Three Wolves and One Human
by TheNotoriousNovelist
Summary: Based off of Wolf Children. AU: Zatanna was just a college student until she met and fell in love with Dick Grayson. Her life is turned upside down when she finds out he's a wolf-man. Then both their lives are turned upside down when they marry and raise their Wolf Children. Pairing: Chalant. Prologue and epilogue narrated by their firstborn.
1. Prologue 00: Wolf Ancestry

** Based off Wolf Children but less sad. Dick's the wolf-man but he won't be dying.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or Wolf Children.**

* * *

Three Wolves and One Human

Prologue:

Wolf Ancestry

This is the story of my parents and how their lives together worked with our family secret.

My mother is Zatanna Grayson (née Zatara), a beautiful Italian woman with raven-black hair and sky-blue eyes. She was an intelligent woman who wanted to change the world for the better. She moved from her family home in Rome to come to America for college.

My father is Richard John "Dick" Grayson II (named after his uncle), a former circus acrobat who was adopted by a billionaire when his biological family died when he was 9. My father was a mysterious man with many secrets. He had shaggy raven-black hair and sapphire eyes. He tried to avoid the spotlight as much as possible.

My parents met when they were 19 and Dad was visiting Mom's college. When asked, Mom would say she never expected to fall in love with a man like my father. A man... that was also a wolf.

* * *

**The rest of the story won't be in this point of view.**


	2. Chapter 01: They Meet

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 1:

They Meet

Zatanna sat in the classroom as the professor went on about the Gods of Ancient Greece. She was looking from her textbook to her notebook while listening to the teacher. Despite taking an interest in the subject, she was becoming bored. Zatanna put her head in her hand and leaned against the table. That's when she saw him. A man her age she had never seen before. He wore a white t-shirt and a light blue unbuttoned shirt with rolled up sleeves. He didn't have a textbook but he had a notebook and he was filling it up. For some reason, Zatanna found him... fascinating.

After class, everyone was handing in their assignments when she noticed the man walking out the back of the classroom. If he didn't hand in his essay, he'd get an F. Zatanna put her essay in the tray before running to the back of the classroom and looking through the door. She saw him walk around a corner and saw he was wearing dark glasses that hid his face. She stepped out the doorway and ran after him.

Zatanna ran through the halls of the school, looking for that man. A stitch appeared in her side and she leaned against the wall. Her hair stuck to her forehead as she sweated. She didn't know why she was trying to find him but she was exhausted. Zatanna wiped her forehead with the cuff of her hoodie sleeve and her head lolled to the side. That's when she saw the man heading down the stairs at the bottom of the hallway. She got to her feet and ran to the top of the stairs and leaned on the banister.

"Hey!" Zatanna exclaimed, getting his attention "You... you didn't hand in your essay. You'll get an F if you don't-"

"No worries," he interrupted her "I was just sitting in on the lecture. I'm not a student,"

"O-Oh," Zatanna stammered "Well... that class is hard even with a textbook so... if you come back... we can share mine?"

He looked up at her and removed his sunglasses to reveal sapphire eyes like she had never seen. He smiled at her and nodded.

"Sure. That would be great," he said "I'm Dick, by the way,"

"Zatanna," she introduced herself "So, I'll... see you next week? For the next lecture?"

Dick chuckled as he slowly began to walk away.

"Maybe," he said with a devilish smirk.

Zatanna watched him walk away with a stunned expression. She shook her head and began walking down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she looked out the door to see Dick walking across the courtyard. A little kid fell over and began to cry but he helped him up and gave him a reassuring pat on the head. Something about him was... mysterious.

* * *

Zatanna sat at the counter during the night shift at the dry cleaners she worked at. She couldn't stop thinking of Dick for some reason. He was cute, that couldn't be denied, but she didn't fall for a guy until she knew what kind of person he was. Although, Dick seemed to have a sense of humour judging by the way he playfully said "Maybe" when she asked if they'd see each other soon.

"I wonder what Dick does for a living," she thought out loud.

"Who's Dick?" Bette asked, walking out from the back with a jacket for a costumer "Here you go, sir,"

"Thanks," the costumer said and he left.

Bette leaned against her elbow on the counter and looked at Zatanna.

"So... who is he?" she asked, smiling.

"He's just a guy I met at school today," Zatanna said, cashing up the day's earnings.

"Ooh! Is he cute?" Bette asked "Is he single?"

"I... guess he's pretty cute," Zatanna said "I don't know if he's single, though,"

Bette shrugged and took a basket of clothes to the back for them to be cleaned over night. Zatanna put the contents of the cash register in the wall safe before taking off her apron and putting on her jacket.

"See you tomorrow, Bette!" she called to her co-worker "You good with locking up?"

"Yep! Go home!" Bette shouted to her.

Zatanna left the dry cleaners and flipped the sign to say "Sorry, we're closed" before letting the door close. It was Fall and the weather was turning cold. She zipped her jacket up and put her hands in her pockets before going on her way.

* * *

Zatanna had her collar flipped up to warm her neck as she reached the street her apartment building was. There was a wolf howl that caused her to look away from where she was going and to walk right into someone. He had a large build with scars across his face and, beside him, stood a man with hair styled like horns and a narrow build.

"E-Ex-Excuse m-me," Zatanna stammered "I-I wasn't looking where I w-was going..."

The two men looked at each other and an evil smile crept on the smaller one's face. In an instant, the bigger one grabbed Zatanna by her throat and pinned her to the way. Her heart began beating 100 times faster and she heard the thumping in her ears.

"What do you think she has on her?" the small one asked.

"I'm not sure," said the big one, lifting her above the ground.

The small one reached into Zatanna's pocket and took out her wallet. He opened it and took out her student ID card. He tossed it away and took out the $50 bucks in it. He put it in his back pocket before looking at the chain around her neck. The small one pulled a necklace out from in her jacket to reveal a small oval picture frame with an aged photo of Zatanna as a baby in her late mother's arms.

"What do you think this is worth?" he asked the big one.

"N-No! P-Pl-Please!" Zatanna choked out, tears beginning to run down her cheeks but he pulled it off her.

There was another wolf howl and a black wolf appeared on the other side of the street. It was poised to pounce with a snarl while growling.

"What the? Someone call animal control," said the small one "Right, Vandel?"

"Don't say my name while we're mugging, you idiot," Vandel hissed.

The wolf began walking across the empty road and Zatanna noticed a scrap of light blue material caught on its claw. It growled louder and began to circle them.

"Uh... Klarion?" Vandel said in worry.

He dropped Zatanna and she landed on the ground. Klarion and Vandel ran for it but the wolf caught up to them and they backtracked.

"You shouldn't have done that," the wolf growled.

Zatanna thought she was going crazy. Did that wolf just... talk? The wolf pounced and pushed Klarion to the ground. Zatanna looked away and curled up against the wall. She covered her ears as to not hear the screams but uncovered them when it went quiet. She looked up to see Vandel and Klarion nearly dead in the street. The wolf walked up to her and she pressed herself against the wall. The wolf lowered its head and dropped her necklace at her feet.

Zatanna grabbed it and saw the sapphire blue of the wolf's eyes. They seemed so familiar to her.


	3. Chapter 02: They Date

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 2:

They Date

Zatanna sat in class and waited to see if Dick would show up. She was really confused about that wolf attack. It saved her from being mugged and it gave back her necklace. And those sapphire eyes... she could have sworn she had seen them somewhere.

"What's with the wolf?"

Zatanna looked up to see Dick standing beside her. She shuffled over and he sat down beside her. She looked down at her notebook to see she had unknowingly drawn a wolf.

"Oh, nothing," Zatanna said, putting her textbook between them "The class is half-over, where were you?"

"I was working. I'm a house painter and the lady I was doing a job for kept changing her mind on what colour she wanted the room," he said and began taking notes again.

Zatanna noticed he was writing in shorthand with a chewed old pen. She looked back at her notebook but peeked at what he was writing. Sometimes he was writing, doodling or looking out the window. He seemed genuinely interested in the class but he also seemed distant and distracted.

* * *

After the class, Zatanna took Dick to the college library. She put her ID card in the machine to open the gates and they both ran through while the librarians weren't looking. She went to get a book for a class and found Dick looking at a book about Einstean's theory of relativity.

"You understand that?" Zatanna asked.

"I may not go to college but I'm not stupid," he said "It's just better if I stay out of sight,"

Zatanna looked at him and peered into the book he was reading. He looked at her with a smile and an eyebrow raised. They both laughed and Dick put the book back on the shelf.

* * *

_...A few days later..._

"So, what do you like to do? Do you have any hobbies? What are your favourite foods?" Zatanna asked as they walked through the park at sunset.

"Wait your turn," Dick chuckled "Why are you in America? I can tell you're Italian, you still have an accent,"

Zatanna looked at him and smiled. She held her arms behind her back and thought about it.

"Well... it kinda ties in to when my mom died," she began "I was only 6 but I remember thinking _how could something so horrible excist? _Ever since then, I've wanted to make the world a better place. Whether that's curing cancer, saving the rainforest or eliminating poverty,"

Dick smiled at her and looked up at the sky.

"My family died when I was 9 and I was adopted shortly after. My mom used to call me her 'little Robin' because, when I did acrobatics, I reminded her of a robin," he said.

Zatanna looked at him and smiled.

"Hey, you want to go to one of my favourite places?" she offered.

Dick looked at her and smiled with a nod.

"Sure!" he said.

* * *

Once night had fallen, Zatanna took Dick to a hill outside of the city where she lay a blanket on the ground and they sat down. They were on a slight incline so they sat diagonally.

"So, what's so special about this place?" Dick asked.

"Look up," she said and lay down.

Dick lay down next to her and looked up at the stars. He gasped at how clear they were and smiled. He could see why Zatanna liked this place so much. Wait... what was he doing? He could never be with someone... no one would ever except him for what he was.

Dick sat up and Zatanna copied in confusion. Dick was about to say he couldn't see her again when she suddenly kissed him. It was like being struck by lightning.

Zatanna pulled away and lay back down to gaze at the stars again. Dick looked at her with a blank expression. He smiled and lay down next to her. They took hold of each other's hands and they blushed with smiles on their faces.

"What was that for?" Dick asked.

"Because... I like you," Zatanna said "I want to get to know you better,"

"Well... Zee..." he said "I have more skeletons in my closet than most guys,"

"That just makes me want to know you more," she said and put her head on his shoulder.

Dick sighed and allowed it. He needed to be alone but he needed to be by Zatanna's side too. He rested his head over hers and put his arm around her shoulders. Zatanna wrapped her arms around his torso and leaned against him. Looking up at the stars made him feel insignificant but, in a good way, as if his problems were nothing. Zatanna wasn't usually this forward but there was something about Dick that brought it out of her.

"Zatanna... there's something I need to tell you," he said.

"What is it?" she asked, leaning up beside him.

"Uh... never mind," Dick said.

Zatanna shrugged and lay back down. They looked up at the stars and everything was perfect for that one second. Just... perfect.

* * *

Dick and Zatanna walked together one night with their fingers intertwined. They were walking through a housing estate on their way back to Zatanna's apartment building.

"Each house is like a little world," Dick said "I once spent 4 hours mixing paint for a little girl's bedroom. I painted the foyay of that house," he pointed at a building too big to be a house and too small to be a mansion "It took me 3 days with this special paint that's mixed with minerals to be like glass... I wish I had a home. There's always my adoptive father's place but it's not the same as having your own place you can paint whatever colour or decorate with any kind of furniture. I'd build a bookshelf and fill it with books then nothing would stop me from building another,"

Zatanna looked up at him and saw the longing in his eyes. He really didn't have a home. She put her arms around his neck and stepped in front of him.

"Maybe I could call that place home too," she said with a smile.

Dick smiled slightly at her and hugged her in his arms. What was he doing? He could never have someone with him. No one would ever understand his world and no one would ever want to.


	4. Chapter 03: She Finds Out

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 3:

She Finds Out

_...1 year later..._

Zatanna was happy with her life. She was 20-years-old with a great boyfriend, half a scholarship for school and a steady part-time job to pay the rest. Although, Dick had been acting strangely for a few weeks. Zatanna was busy working at the dry cleaners like always. She passed a suit over the counter to a customer and put the money in the cash register. There was a buzz in her apron pocket and she took out her phone. There was a text from Dick.

**At 11 2nite com 2 the hill. I hav somthin 2 sh-O u. Dres a bit up but not 2 fanc-E, I no u ;) Luv u**

Zatanna smiled and texted a reply.

**C u thr. Luv u ;]**

She put away her phone and got back to work before her boss caught her texting... again.

* * *

Zatanna looked through her wardrobe only to decide none of her clothes were right. She would have to go clothes shopping. This is how she found herself in a retail shop, looking for something nice. Tonight wasn't just date night, it was their one year anniversary. Zatanna would have liked to go to a fancy restaurant (especially because she had just bought a red velvet dress and heels) but Dick wasn't one for big crowds like that.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" a shop assistant asked her.

"Yeah. It's my one-year anniversary with my boyfriend and he's surprising me at our favourite spot but that's a grassy hill. I need something nice but sustainable," Zatanna said, looking up from the rack.

"Hmm... well then..." said the shop assistant "Come with me,"

In the end, Zatanna had the perfect outfit for an outdoor date.

* * *

Dick was nervous about doing this but, if he was going to be with her, Zatanna had to know. He nearly told her last year but had retreated like a coward. Plus, there was something else he wanted to do. Dick knocked on the door and Zatanna answered. She wore some black small wedge-heeled boots, black-and-red striped tights, black miniskirt, red blouse and a black jumper tied around her waist.

"Wow, you look beautiful," he said and offered her his arm "Ready to go?"

Zatanna took some red lipstick out and quickly applied it before nodding. She grabbed a small black bag with a gold buckle and hooked her arm with Dick's. She had ruby stud earrings, red lipstick and skin coloured eyeshadow just to hide dark rings from lack of sleep.

"What's your surprise, love?" Zatanna asked.

Dick rubbed the back of his head in worry before giving her a shaky smile.

"O-Oh, uh, you'll just have to wait and see, heh," he said, awkwardly.

Zatanna let it go and they headed down the stairs to the ground floor. Dick was wearing his dark glasses over his eyes and a dark brown jacket over a plain white t-shirt. He seemed extremely nervous about something. She stopped him on the stairs and kissed him. Dick was confused by the romantic action for only a second until he realized he was letting on his worries more than he thought.

"Whatever's worrying you, don't let it. Tonight is our night," she said.

Dick smiled at her. He loved her so much and hoped above all else she would expect who he really was.

* * *

During the drive to the bottom of the hill, it was unusually quiet. The Fall leaves were wonderful reds, yellows and browns that Zatanna had painted a dozen times already. In her bag was her present for Dick and she just hoped he liked it. They parked and got out to walk up the hill. Before Zatanna could step onto the path, Dick wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

"I love you, Zatanna," he said "More than anything,"

"I love you too, Dickie," she said but with worry "Is something wrong?"

"Hopefully not," he said "C'mon, I want to show you what I've done,"

Zatanna smiled and followed him up the path to their spot. It was 11 p.m. and she had school the next day but she didn't care, she just wanted to spend that night with Dick.

* * *

When they reached their spot, there was a blanket laid out on the top of the hill with a collection of three lit candles at each corner. It was so romantic! It was a bit chilly so Zatanna put her black jumper on with her shirt collar and trim still visible. After a romantic meal of strawberries and cream, cheesecake, lobster and other foods, it was time for the gift exchange.

"Here, this is for you," said Zatanna, opening her purse to pass him a small box.

The box was red with a black ribbon tied around it. Dick opened it to find a delicate glass robin inside. He looked to her and smiled with tears about to spill.

"A robin... just like my mom called me," he said "Thank you, Zatanna, this is wonderful,"

"You're welcome. It took a while to figure out what to get you. I wanted it to have meaning so it wasn't just some useless nicknack," she said.

"Okay... it's time I show you my surprise," said Dick and he stood up "You deserve to know who I am... what I am,"

Zatanna leaned on her arm with her legs tucked up beside her and watched him. He took his dark glasses off and tossed them to the ground. Ever so slowly, black furry ears appeared on top of his head at the same rate his hair shortened and his neck widened to be covered in black fur. Zatanna looked down to see his hands growing in length and black fur with claws. He turned around and she saw he had a wolf's head with completely sapphire blue eyes. Her jaw dropped.

"Look at me... I'm a monster," Dick said "I'm sorry for not telling you but I was scared you'd leave me... are you going to leave me?"

Zatanna closed her mouth and gulped. She got to her feet and shook her head.

"You're the wolf that saved me from being mugged. You attacked the muggers and sent them to hospital. You returned my necklace," she said "You're my hero,"

Zatanna walked over to him and stopped in front of him. She felt his wolf breath in her face from his snout and she took his claw-like hand in hers.

"I'm... a wolf-man. The last of my kind after my family died," Dick said and he reverted back to his human self "I was just in Central Park when I saw you getting mugged... I couldn't let that happen to you,"

Zatanna threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her before letting go, stepping back and got on one knee. He took a box out of his jacket pocket and opened it to her. Zatanna gasped with a smile of joy on her face.

"Zatanna... Will you marry me?" Dick asked.

She wiped the tears from her face with her jumper sleeve and nodded.

"Yes... yes, you wolf-man, yes!" she exclaimed.


	5. Chapter 04: Mr and Mrs Grayson

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 4:

Mr. and Mrs. Grayson

_...6 months later..._

Back in her home country of Italy, Zatanna and Dick said "I do" on the beaches of Rome as the Sun was going down. As they danced their first dance as husband and wife, Zatanna thought of the future she and Dick could have together. The world was filled with mysteries but Dick's heart wasn't one. She rested her head against him as they stepped back and forth to the music. Dick had made his peace with a life spent alone until he met Zatanna.

* * *

_...A few months later..._

Zatanna carried a basket of laundry into her and Dick's bedroom and put it on the floor. She got on her knees and began folding it to put away in the draws under the bed. Dick was working at the time so she was just doing some chores around their apartment. As she was putting some of Dick's shirts away, she felt her breakfast coming back. Zatanna dropped the clothes and covered her mouth. She sprinted for the bathroom and made it just in time to throw up. She got up and went to the sink to wash her face. Zatanna leaned against the basin when it struck her. She looked at herself in the mirror and considered the possibility. The front door opened and closed and she knew Dick was home.

"Zee?" he called and he poked his head around the door "You okay, love?"

Zatanna looked at him and he looked into the toilet. Dick flushed it before flicking her hair back, taking a flannel and gently rubbing it over her mouth.

"I think I might have a stomach bug," she said "I'll go to the doctor's later,"

Dick looked at her and she took the flannel from him. Zatanna re-wet it and washed some paint from Dick's cheek.

"C'mon, I brought home Chinese food," he said and led her from the bathroom.

* * *

Dick put some flowers in a jar of water and put them on the windowsill. Zatanna was eating all the leftovers they had. She opened the fridge to find it nearly empty.

"We need to go shopping!" she called to him.

"'Kay! I got paid today so we can afford it," Dick called back "You feeling okay to go?"

"Yeah! Let me just check if we have some coupons!" Zatanna called, closing the fridge and taking the coupon book from the counter.

They weren't extreme couponers but they could combine coupons to get their savings to last as long as possible. Zatanna took out a coupon that halved the price of their shop if it was worth more than $20 dollars as well as some coupons for everyday things like milk, eggs, etc. They weren't poor but they could stand to not live paycheck by paycheck. Zatanna knew Dick's adoptive parents, Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle-Wayne, were rich but she understood Dick didn't want to rely on his parents for the rest of his life. Zatanna put the coupons in her purse and met Dick at the front door. He had the reusable shopping bags and the keys to their bike locks (they had to sell the car to pay for rent and such).

"Okay, let's go," said Dick.

* * *

Dick and Zatanna locked their bikes up and went inside the supermarket with a prepared shopping list in hand. Dick picked a basket up as they entered and they headed for the bread isle.

"We need bread, bagels and packs of flower and sugar from this isle," she said "Together that costs $11 dollars but, with a half-price coupon, that's $5.50 but a coupon for bagels takes another dollar off so that's..."

"$4.50," said Dick "Plus 50 cents off both the flower and sugar so it'll be $3.50,"

"Wow, stuff worth $11 dollars for only $3.50," said Zatanna "Maybe we _are_extreme couponers,"

Dick chuckled and put the sugar in their basket.

"We could use some burgers and bacon," he said "Check your phone and see what offers there are,"

Zatanna used her phone to go to the supermarket website and found 2 for 1 deals on bacon and chicken burgers. She went onto the calculator to figure out a price and checked how much money they had with them.

"A'right, I think we can afford that," she said "C'mon, the meat isle is this way," and she tugged him in that direction.

* * *

Afterwards, Dick put the shopping in the basket of his bike and they pushed their bikes out of the parking lot. Zatanna had booked a doctor's appointment so her husband headed home while she went in the opposite direction.

Zatanna came to a stop outside of the doctor's office and padlocked her bike outside. She went inside and walked up to the secretary.

"Uh, Zatanna Grayson, here to see Dr., uh, what was it?" she took the note out of her purse and checked "Dr. Leslie Thompson,"

"You're Dr. Thompson's 3 o'clock?"

"Yes," said Zatanna.

"Go wait over there," said the secretary, pointing at the waiting area with her pen.

Zatanna walked over there and took a seat. She was nervous about being in a doctor's office and gripped her purse strap. She looked around at the other people waiting. There was a little boy with his mother, a man in a suit and an elderly woman who was asleep.

"Zatanna Grayson?" said a male nurse.

Zatanna jumped in her seat.

"That's me," she said, standing up.

"Dr. Thompson will see you now," he said and led her through a door.

* * *

Zatanna sat nervously on the table as Dr. Thompson took notes on her clipboard. She turned to Zatanna and put her pencil in her silvery hair.

"How long has the vomiting been happening?" she asked, looking at her over her glasses.

"Uh, just this morning," said Zatanna "But, my stomach has been feeling weird lately,"

"Uh, huh," said Dr. Thompson, taking further notes "How's your appetite been?"

"I've been eating more, having midnight snacks and finishing off leftovers," said Zatanna.

"Hmm... how about your moods?" Dr. Thompson asked, putting a stethoscope to Zatanna's heart "Just breathe normally,"

"Well... now that I think about it... I have been overreacting to the slightest thing," said Zatanna.

Dr. Thompson took her stethoscope off and passed a plastic cup to her.

"I'll need a urine sample," she said "There's a bathroom across the hall,"

This was unusual. None of Zatanna's previous doctors had asked these questions or for a sample of her... liquid. Something had to be happening. Zatanna took the cup and dashed across the hall to the bathroom.

When she came back to Dr. Thompson's room, she passed her the cup with a paper towel around it. She sat on the table and tried to see what Dr. Thompson was doing but her back was turned.

"Alright, Mrs. Grayson, this'll take a while so please come back in half an hour," said Dr. Thompson, turning to her.

Zatanna took a deep breath before leaving. Whatever was wrong, she was terrified of it. She didn't want her life to be thrown off course by some kind disease.

* * *

After getting the news from Dr. Thompson, Zatanna returned home. She was happy but... she was scared. What happened if something went wrong? She was terrified.

"Zee? That you?" Dick called from the bathroom.

"Yeah! What are you doing in there?" Zatanna called back.

"Just cleaning the tub! I, uh, I took a bath in wolf form!" Dick called.

Zatanna knew that meant a clogged drain, scratched tiles and mysterious smells. She walked in to see Dick scrubbing the side. She smiled as he looked at her sheepishly. Zatanna picked up a plunger and began trying to unclog the drain.

"So, what did the doctor say?" Dick asked, nonchalantly.

Zatanna stopped and sat back on her knees. Dick looked at her with concern and noticed how she was smiling while tears ran down her face. He turned her head to look up at him and saw the mix of joy and fear on her face.

"Dick... I'm pregnant with a Wolf Child," she said "I'm just scared how we're going to hide its wolf ancestry from the world and what if its born looking like a wolf?"

Dick pulled her into his arms with a huge smile on his face.

"We'll figure out the details later but, right now, let's enjoy the fact we're going to have a baby together!" he said.

Zatanna leaned back in his arms and he put his hand over her stomach. They smiled at each other and knew they were going to be alright.


	6. Chapter 05: Wolf Children

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 5:

Wolf Children

Over the course of the ensuing months, Zatanna and Dick prepared for the new arrival. Scared the child would be born looking like a wolf pup, they decided a homebirth was the safest way. They didn't even hire a midwife. Zatanna sat on the floor with pillows around her and a heater on to warm her feet as she sawed a toy for their baby. Dick was out hunting in wolf form so she waited for him. Zatanna put the stuffed toy down and looked at the window as rain pelted it. She put her hand over her baby-bump and felt a kick. The door opened and she turned around to see Dick had returned. She smiled at him and smiled even more when he pulled a dead pheasant from behind his back.

Dick prepared the bird himself and served it to her for dinner. Zatanna hadn't had pheasant before but one bite and she loved it. It was hot and she slightly burned her mouth but continued to eat. Dick leaned against his elbow on the table and watched her with joy. Zatanna felt another kick and she dropped her knife and fork on her plate.

"Zee, are you okay?" Dick asked.

"Dick... I-I think the baby's coming!" Zatanna exclaimed.

* * *

At 2:43 a.m., on April 22nd in 2022, Robyn Mary Grayson was born. She was a healthy 7 pounds with pink skin and silky tufts of raven-black hair. Zatanna was leaning back against the birthing pool with her daughter in her arms and her husband sitting on the living room floor by them.

"I'm so glad she's healthy," Zatanna said, her cheeks still red from the effort of childbirth.

"Healthy and beautiful, just like her mother," Dick said.

"I hope she has a gentle heart," she said.

"And a good mind to go with it," he added.

"Let's call her Roe for short," Zatanna said "Roe Grayson,"

"That's perfect," Dick said.

Roe stirred in her baby blanket and her mother began rocking her. Dick brushed Zatanna's hair out of her face and they looked at their child. Baby Roe took a deep breath and sneezed. In that instant, she grew a slight wolf snout and black furry wolf ears. Zatanna and Dick laughed at the sudden change to half-way wolf. Roe's ears twitched and she returned to being human.

"I hope Roe has a good life," Zatanna said "That's my wish for her,"

"It's our job to give that to her," Dick said "For a Wolf Child, the sky's the limit,"

"I just hope she's happy," she said "This is a new chapter in the our lives, Dick.

* * *

_...3 years later..._

3 years later, Zatanna had another Wolf Child. Another girl, named Hailey Sindella Grayson who was born July 3rd, 2025. And, by the age of 9-months, was toddling around and making noises that resembled "mama" and "dada". The Grayson sisters had ravenous appetites and ate continuously. Zatanna had trouble keeping up with them but was relieved when she didn't have to nurse her anymore.

"I'm hungry!" Roe said.

"In a minute, Roe, I'm almost done," Zatanna said.

"Now!" Roe childishly complained.

Roe always turned into a wolf when she got cranky... which happened a lot. She turned wolf and began running around the living room where Hailey was playing with her toy wolf. Roe ran back to Zatanna and jumped on her hind legs. Unlike their adult wolf father, Roe and Hailey were grey in wolf form with black hair, black tail and they retained their usual eyes.

"Alright, forget patience, here, have one cookie," Zatanna said, giving in "But tuck your ears away,"

Roe shook her head and became human. Zatanna passed her a cookie and Roe happily ate it. Wolves or people? The Grayson sisters didn't really know how to be either. Hailey would copy Roe and shake her head to bring out her wolf features. To add to it, Roe would chew the legs of funiture and Hailey would just sit back and watch her. Having two Wolf Children, Zatanna had to stay home and didn't have the chance to finish college.

* * *

Roe and Hailey getting sick was a conundrum for both Dick and Zatanna. When Dick was growing up in Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth (the Wayne family butler) would take care of him when sick. The Waynes knew Dick's secret and Alfred used to be a battle field medic.

"Roe? You here, honey?" Zatanna said, walking into the kitchen.

There was a coughing and she saw her oldest daughter in wolf form, vomiting something up. Zatanna cried out and picked her wolfed out child up.

"Zee, what's wrong?" Dick asked, hurriedly walking in only to see Roe "Roe! What did she eat?" and they both saw the ripped open silica packet.

Dick and Zatanna were quick to put jackets on their child because it was cold and Roe was in wolf form. They put Hailey in a baby carrier that Zatanna put on her back and Dick held Roe. They both ran out to find a doctor to help.

* * *

The Grayson parents ran with the Grayson sisters in the direction of the children's hospital. They stopped at the crossroads and looked between the vet and the hospital. What to do? Should they take Roe to a vet or a doctor? It was anyone's guess. Dick spotted a public phone and quickly dialed Wayne Manor.

**"This is Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth speaking,"**

"Alfred? It's Dick! Listen, Robyn just ate the contents of a silica packet. We don't even know what silica is or why it was in our kitchen but Roe ate it!" Dick said, holding the phone between him and Zatanna.

"We're just scared that it's toxic," Zatanna cried.

**"Did she throw up?"**

"A few times," said Dick.

**"Was there blood?"**

"We didn't see any," said Zatanna.

**"How's her appetite?"**

They looked at Roe in Dick's arms. She seemed fine and burped.

"Can I have a snack?" Roe asked.

Zatanna and Dick listened to Alfred talk down the phone line.

"So, you're saying she'll be fine?" Dick asked.

**"Yes,"**

Dick and Zatanna sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Alfred," Zatanna said, giving the receiver to Dick and taking Roe into her arms.

Zatanna rocked Roe to sleep as Dick hung up and they headed back to their apartment building.

* * *

The next day, Roe was back to her usual self. She was trying to show Hailey how to prowl. They shook their heads to turn wolf and Roe began to demonstrate. Zatanna had made them both jumpsuits that compensated for their changing. Roe's was red (her favourite colour) and Hailey's was violet. Roe jumped up onto the windowsill by the flowers in jars of water and looked outside. It was April and her 4th birthday was coming soon while Hailey's 1st birthday was in 3 months. Roe sat on the windowsill with her tail wagging and Hailey trying to catch it between her front paws. Zatanna came in and frantically pulled her oldest child from the view of people outside.

"Mommy, I wanna walk," said Roe.

"But, you just got over being sick, honey," said Zatanna.

Roe's bottom lip trembled and she jumped from Zatanna's arms before running around the room at top speed.

"I wanna walk! I wanna walk! I wanna walk! I wanna walk!" she cried "Please, Mommy, I wanna walk!"

Zatanna sighed and picked Hailey up off the floor.

"Alright, I'll take you for a walk but tuck your ears away first," she said.

Roe came to a sudden stop in front of her and shook her head 'til her wolf features were gone. She became so excited for a walk that she bounced up and turned wolf again, barking.

"Roe, your ears are out again," said Zatanna.

Roe stopped and shook her head again.

"Ready!" she exclaimed.

Zatanna put a lavender hoodie on Hailey and pulled the hood up. Roe managed to put her white hoodie on herself. She looked adorably like a candycane.

* * *

Zatanna walked through the park with Hailey in a harness at her front and holding onto Roe's hand. They walked through the park and they spotted a group of moms with their children around her own children's ages. Zatanna sighed and kept walking.


	7. Chapter 06: Downwards Spiral

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 6:

Downwards Spiral

Zatanna was crouching down by a flower patch and smelling the flowers. Roe was smelling one too and Zatanna bent a flower down for Hailey to sniff. It was late and Dick was probably home by now so she decided it was time to go home. As they headed back to the park entrance, they passed a man with a dog.

"Hi, ma'am, cute kids," he said.

"You hear that? He thinks you're cute," said Zatanna.

The dog turned and began barking at Roe. She let go of her mother's hand, got on all fours, turned half-wolf and began barking back. Everyone turned to look at them and Zatanna was relieved Roe's hood hid her ears. She grabbed her oldest daughter from going head-to-head with a bulldog and ran with her. On the way back, she felt like everyone was staring at her Wolf Children.

* * *

Zatanna slammed the door to the apartment shut and panted. She slid down the door with tears in her eyes. Roe crawled out of her mother's arms and managed to pull Hailey from inside the baby harness. She sat down with her legs crossed and her sister on her lap.

"Mommy? Did I do something wrong?" Roe asked, nervously.

Zatanna looked up at her and took the baby harness off. She pulled her daughters into her arms and cried. Dick walked around the corner and saw his family curled up by the door. He walked over and pulled their Wolf Children out of their mother's arms and hugged his wife.

"Dick..." Zatanna cried, throwing her arms around him.

The Grayson sisters took their jackets off, wolfed out and ran around the apartment. Zatanna sniffed and wiped her eyes. Dick helped her up and they went to try and catch their Wolf Children.

* * *

They had a small apartment with only two bedrooms so Roe and Hailey shared a room. Roe slept in a small toddler sized bed and Hailey in a crib. Zatanna put Hailey in her crib and tucked Roe up in bed. She was about to close the curtains when Roe noticed the full moon. She sat up and howled.

"Ssssh!" Zatanna hushed her daughter but Hailey started too.

Dick didn't howl on instinct like their daughters but he had taken control of it. Zatanna took Hailey from her crib and took Roe in her arms. She held them close until they stopped howling and she put them back to bed. She closed the curtains and turned on the nightlight before turning off the light.

Zatanna closed the door and went into her bedroom. Dick was already in bed on the side against the wall and she sat down on the edge of the mattress. She kicked her slippers off and took off her shawl before getting under the covers. Dick put his arm around her and they relaxed. For some reason, Zatanna felt like she was in a downwards spiral.

* * *

_...Later that night/early next morning..._

Zatanna walked back and forth with a crying Hailey in her arms. She patted her back gently. Hailey was just being fussy and it wasn't helpful a neighbor was banging on the door. Dick answered it and was immediately yelled at.

"How'm I s'posed to sleep around 'ere with that _brat_of yours screamin' all the freakin' time?!"

"Hailey's not even a year old! She's a baby, they cry! If you want to sleep, go to bed and stop banging on our door because it's making Hailey cry even more! She'd have probably calmed down by now if it wasn't for you!" Dick retaliated and closed the door.

Roe, in red pyjamas and her hair in pigtails, peeked around the corner to see her father slam the door. She clutched the toy robin Zatanna had sawn when she was pregnant with her and quietly stepped out.

"Daddy? Why doesn't that man like Hailey?" Roe asked, nervously.

Dick looked at his oldest daughter and picked her up. He took her robin toy and playfully made it nuzzle Roe's nose.

"He's cranky 'cause Hailey's keeping him up," he said "Now, let's put Mr. Robin here, back to bed,"

Roe stretched her arms above her head and her eyes began to close.

"O...kay," she yawned, falling asleep.

* * *

_...The next morning__..._

Roe was sitting in front of the T.V in wolf form as she watched SpongeBob SquarePants. Hailey was also in wolf form and curled up on the sofa, taking a nap from crying last night. Zatanna poured some cereal into a bowl and added milk. She dropped a spoon in and took it to Roe.

"Turn human, sweetie," she said and Roe reverted to half-wolf.

There was a knock at the door and Dick answered it.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hello, sir, we're from Social Services. We're here about your daughters, Robyn and Hailey, right?" said the man.

"Wh-What's the problem?" Dick asked, keeping the door only opened a crack.

"According to records, your children haven't been vaccinated or even gone to a doctor once!" said the woman.

"Uh, well, they're fine... thanks for the concern," Dick said and tried to close the door.

"Sir, be reasonable. We just need to see your children and confirm they're being treated right," said the man.

Dick looked back at his wife, who shook her head and made a gesture with her fingers as ears which meant their daughters were in wolf form.

"Mr. Grayson, if you don't cooperate, we'll be forced to assume neglect," said the woman.

"Just leave us alone!" Zatanna cried, walking over and pulling the door shut.

* * *

_...A few days later..._

Things only got worse when the landlord came knocking. They'd gotten this kind of complaint before. Pets. Pets weren't allowed in their building and Roe and Hailey's howls made it seem they had a dog. Despite this, they weren't going to let this ruin Roe's birthday.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Robyn, happy birthday to you!" they sang.

Roe squealed with excitement as Dick brought the birthday cake in. The cake was in the the shape of a robin and was covered with red icing, a yellow icing beak and a black dot for an eye. Instead of candles, there were four sparklers and a candle in the shape of a 4. Roe eagerly blew them all out and was so excited she went half-wolf. Written in yellow icing on the cake, it said: Happy Birthday, Roe. Zatanna pulled the candle and sparklers out and cut the cake.

"Biggest slice for the Birthday Girl!" she said and Roe jumped on her chair.

Zatanna put the cake slice in front of her and Roe took a bite out of it like a wolf would. Usually, she would have been told not to eat like that but it was her birthday. Dick pulled a box out from under the table and took a red-wrapped present out. Roe stopped eating like a wolf and reverted back to full human. She took the present and ripped the paper off. Inside was a red hoodie with black sleeves, yellow t-shirt with 'Robyn' written in red over it and black shorts.

"It's a new outfit that adjusts to your wolf form," said Zatanna "You're 4 now and too big for the jumpsuit,"

Roe smiled and hugged them close to her. Dick passed her another gift and she unwrapped it to find a red notebook that said 'Robyn' in black in fancy letters in the corner and a matching stationery set. She also got new red sneakers with black souls, a colouring book of forest animals, crayons and a ragdoll that turned inside out to become a wolf.

"We actually have something to tell you both," said Dick.

"What is it, Daddy?" Roe asked.

"We're moving!" announced Zatanna.


	8. Chapter 07: Moving

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 7:

Moving

_...1 month later..._

Dick sat in the front of the car next to the estate agent with Zatanna in the back with their children. Hailey was asleep in her car seat and Roe was asleep, leaning against Hailey's seat, sitting on her booster seat. They were driving up a bumpy mountain road to a possible house.

"A while back, the town council decided to do something with the houses out here. Sure, the city folk snatch them up quick enough but they just can't take the commute," said the estate agent "The middle school is half an hour away and the high school is _2_ and a half hours away and that's by train _and _bus! Don't get me wrong, it's a great place for raising children but, I'm just saying, wherever you're coming from is _way _more convenient,"

They came to a stop outside of a large one-floor house surrounded by forest. The estate agent pushed open the two front doors and led them in. Zatanna was holding a sleeping Roe in her arms with a sleeping Hailey in a baby carrier on her back. The inside of the house was filled with dust and junk. They went up a step and into the living room. The estate agent pulled the front wall aside as far as possible then pushed another set of sliding doors along so there were five sets of doors to open up the huge main room.

"This is the living/dining room," said the estate agent "That's the kitchen," he pointed to the other side of the room and down a step.

They walked around the place before walking out the opened up front wall and into the grassy garden. There was a lopsided buildings made of metal sheets, a large shed near the edge of the woods, an old bomb shelter that was sunk into the ground and a large field.

"Is that field included?" Dick asked.

"Yeah but don't go buying a tractor. Unfortunately, it's not viable as farm land and the animals on the mountain push people out. Weird, most places it's the other way around," said the estate agent.

"Are there any neighbors?" Zatanna asked, sitting down on the large stone foundation and sighed from carrying both her children.

"Well, only if you use the term loosely," said the estate agent "There's no one around for miles. Y'know what? I'll even throw the stuff in the shed. This dump needs a lot of work and everyone's given up before they've unpacked. So, to the next house? There's a cute little cottage in the village-"

"We'll take it," Dick and Zatanna said in unison.

"Wha?" the estate agent exclaimed.

"This is the one for us," said Zatanna, smiling.

The estate agent looked at them as if they were crazy but they just smiled.

* * *

"Where are we, Mommy? Daddy?" Roe asked, having woken up.

"This is our new home, Robyn," said Zatanna, crouching down.

Roe looked around at the countryside and ran across the grass, kicking her trainers off. She ran to the crooked building and peeked inside but a bat squeaked and she ran away. She ran to the submerged bomb shelter and ran to the top.

"Mommy, Daddy, Hailey! Watch this!" Roe shouted.

She jumped from the top and slid down the steady decline and ran over to the field. She stared for a moment before smiling and turned around. Roe saw Dick walking out of the shed and ran to him. She ran right into his legs and hugged him.

"You like it here?" Dick asked her.

"Uh, huh! Can I turn full-wolf, Daddy? Please? Can I? Daddy? Pretty please?!" Roe asked.

"Of course, Roe, you're allowed to turn wolf here. There's no one to see you all the way out here. We're all safe!" Dick said, smiling.

Roe looked up at him with sparkling sapphire eyes and a big smile. She let go of his legs and jumped into the air. She turned wolf and her shorts and underwear flew off her canine legs. Roe ran about their new home and into the house.

Dick came to his wife's side with a box of tools in his hands. They sat across from each other and inspected the tools. They took them out and checked them over before putting them aside.

"This is going to be hard," said Dick, sitting back "Let's begin with patching the roof, we don't want to be rained on,"

"At least the wiring and plumbing is good," said Zatanna, laying back "But, I think moving here is perfect for us,"

Dick, in his adult completely black wolf form, walked over to her and lay down beside her. She began scratching behind his ears and they relaxed until Hailey began crying from a dirty diaper. Zatanna sat up and picked Hailey up to change her.

* * *

Dick knelt on the roof and hammered in new wood to prevent any leaks from the rain due to occur that night. Zatanna was inside and trying to scrub the inside of the oven clean. Hailey was on her back in a baby carrier and Roe was hitting the floor with a broom and stirring up dust. The wind picked up and Dick climbed down from the roof with a bucket of nails and a hammer. He walked back inside and forced the sliding doors shut to close the front wall. They began to rattle and Roe timidly hid behind him.

"Zee?! The rain's coming!" Dick called.

Zatanna came running in with Hailey. They heard the rain come pouring down and almost instantly... leaks began to let water through. Dick and Zatanna groaned and Roe copied. They all went and found buckets, cups and other containers for the rain to pour into.

Roe crouched by a bucket and watched the drops fall down and make a ripple in the bucket of water. Hailey was watching her as she held her hand out and pulled it back before the drop hit her. Roe laughed and Hailey extended her own hand. She didn't pull her hand back and the water splashed in her face. Zatanna was up a ladder, trying to change a lightbulb, when the floor underneath one of the ladder's legs collapsed. She fell into Dick's arms and their daughters shrieked when the ladder collapsed with a bang. Dick sighed and put Zatanna back on the floor. He grabbed the bucket of nails, hammer and planks of wood and hammered a cross over the gap for the time being.

* * *

That night, they all slept in the main room in sleeping bags. Roe was quite scared of this place at night. There weren't any car horns or street lights. The sound of dripping water didn't help either. Roe sat up in her sleeping bag and tried to shake Zatanna awake.

"Mommy? Mommy?" she whispered.

"Mhmm, uh, mmhmm, huh..." Zatanna grumbled and she looked up "Robyn? Wh-What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I need to peepee," Roe said.

Zatanna leaned up and sat across from her daughter. She reached out and Roe crawled into her arms. Zatanna got to her feet and walked in the direction of the bathroom.

As Roe sat on the toilet with Zatanna waiting outside, she looked around the dark cold room. When she finished and pulled her big girl pants (i.e pants to be worn incase of bedwetting) back up. Roe washed her hands and flushed the toilet. Before she could leave, the window was blown open and leaves and rain blew in. Roe shrieked in fear and Zatanna opened the door and pulled her child into her arms. She took her back to the sleeping bags and they attempted to go to sleep again.


	9. Chapter 08: Homegrown

**When I say "baby carrier", that means Hailey is on Zatanna's back. When I say "baby harness", that means Hailey is on Zatanna's front. That's my personal definition.**

* * *

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 8:

Homegrown

Zatanna was washing a pillar that the sliding doors stopped at when she noticed nicks in it. It got her thinking and, a few minutes later, Roe and Hailey were standing against the inside of the pillar and their height was measured. Zatanna wrote:

_Roe Grayson, age 4, June, 2026_

_Hailey Grayson, age 10-months, June, 2026_

Roe was happy to see her height measured and Hailey just curled up on her mother's lap.

* * *

It was undeniable, they needed food. Leaving Dick to do house work, Zatanna put Hailey in her bike seat behind her and Roe in the bike seat behind the handlebars. They waved to Dick as Zatanna pushed the bike down the path to the road. She mounted it and they rode down hill through farmland. There were some men working in the fields and saw her and her kids.

"Who's that?" a boy, about 6, asked his uncle.

"A family just moved up the mountain, Kurt, that must be the mom," said his uncle.

"Who're her kids, Uncle Clark?" Kurt asked.

One of the other men working in the field ran over to them to answer the boy's question.

"I think she has two of the same. Either two sons or two daughters," he said "I actually think one's your age, Kurt. Maybe you could get your nephew a friend his age, eh, Clark?"

"Why? She and her family will probably give up in a week," said Clark "Go home, Kurt, you're mother probably has cookies in the oven,"

Kurt jumped up and ran across the field to the far off farmhouse. Clark continued to make diverts in the dirt for planting.

"Maybe we could invite the dad bowling. Ever since Nathanial's leave ended, we've been down a team member,"

"Barry, your nephew's probably closer to that woman's husband's age," said Clark "Now, get back to work,"

Barry shrugged his shoulders and went back up the field to do more plowing.

"Try to go easy on this one, Grandpa Kent!" Barry called to the old man working at the bottom of the fields.

* * *

Zatanna hit the breaks on her bike outside of a convenience store. She got off and walked her bike over to a lamppost. She got her daughters out of their seats and padlocked it to the lamppost. Zatanna put Hailey in a baby carrier and took Roe's hand. They walked into the convenience store and Zatanna picked up a basket.

"What should we get, Roe?" she asked her oldest child, making sure her hood was securely over her head incase her wolf ears popped out.

"Hmmm... ice-cream! And... pancakes! And... also... sweets!" Roe said, her little wolf nose poking out as she turned half-wolf.

Zatanna tapped her nose and Roe twitched it until it was her usual human button nose. Hailey began playing with her mother's hair out of boredom and they began shopping.

Zatanna was looking at the price of some bread when she heard something be dropped in her basket. She looked down to see Roe trying to fit a large sticker book of forest animals.

"Robyn, why do you want that?" Zatanna asked.

"The wolf!" she said and pointed at a picture on the front cover.

Zatanna looked at Roe in wonder. Did she really just want the wolf sticker?

* * *

When the girls finally returned home, Dick had finished waterproofing the roof and was fixing the hole in the floor. To say the least, Zatanna seemed exhausted from pushing the bike back uphill. Dick resolved the problem by making her a cup of her favourite herbal tea. Roe and Hailey were running about in wolf form.

"Dick... I can never make that trip again," Zatanna said, putting her cup down "I think we need to start growing our own food,"

"'Kay," said Dick "I think there's a mobile library that comes to town. We can buy some books on farming from there,"

Roe and Hailey climbed onto the stone foundation and into the house. They pulled their muddy shoes off and ran over to their parents.

"Guess what, girls," said Zatanna.

"What, Mommy? Are we getting a pet elephant?! A pet tiger?! A giraffe!" Roe exclaimed, sitting on her mother's lap.

"No, no, nothing like that," said Zatanna "Because it's so far to the convenience store, we're going to be growing our own vegetables,"

"I'll help!" Roe exclaimed.

* * *

_...A few days __later..._

Zatanna stood in the narrow mobile library, looking through gardening and farming books. Dick tapped her shoulder and showed her a book about wolf life.

"The girls need to learn this stuff," he said with a serious expression "I'm the one meant to teach them about being a wolf but, because my parents died when I was young, I don't know everything myself,"

Zatanna nodded in understanding and added it to the pile. They went to the cashier and put their selected books down. The cashier began scanning them when Roe put a small pile of fairytales next to them.

"These too! I'm going to give this one to Hailey for her birthday!" she said, holding up Hansel and Gretal.

Roe's hood began to slip to reveal one wolf ear. Zatanna hastily pulled it back over her head and hid her face. She picked Roe up and buried her head in her shoulder. The cashier passed them their books in a plastic bag and they were quick to leave.

* * *

Zatanna and Dick looked at the patch of land they intended to turn into a vegetable patch. They looked at the diagram in the book and decided to clear the grass then upturn the earth. It was hard mowing because they only had an old fashioned mower from the shed that didn't turn if you didn't push. After going over the patch with some clippers and getting rid of the weeds that escaped the mower, it was already time for lunch. Roe and Hailey were complaining they were hungry so Zatanna went to make them some PB&J's while Dick marked out the patch with some pegs and chicken wire.

Zatanna returned with a bacon sandwich for him and a plain cheese one for herself. They sat on top of the hill next to their vegetable patch and ate their lunch. The wind picked up and nearly blew Zatanna's sun hat away.

"We better get back to work," said Dick, standing up and walking down the hill.

Zatanna sighed and just looked at him with a dreamy glint in her eyes. She was so happy with Dick and their children. She got up and walked down the hill. Dick passed her a pitchfork and they began the agonizingly slow process of upturning the earth.


	10. Chapter 09: First Birthday, First Hunt

**I intend to finish the story when Roe is 13 and Hailey is 10.**

* * *

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 9:

First Birthday, First Hunt

_...2 weeks later..._

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Hailey, happy birthday to you!"

Hailey happily clapped her hands and Dick put a chocolate cake in front of her. They all showed her how to blow and she copied them to blow out the candle. Hailey successfully blew out her candle and they all clapped. Dick cut the cake into eights and gave one piece to everyone. Roe took the whipped cream they bought last month and covered the plane chocolate cake with it.

"Present time!" Zatanna said.

Zatanna had Hailey sitting on her lap and she gave her a present wrapped in violet wrapping paper. Zatanna helped Hailey rip the paper off to find a plush bunny toy inside. Hailey squealed and hugged the toy.

"Roe, didn't _you_ get Hailey a present?" Dick said.

Roe stopped eating, jumped off the ground and ran for her bedroom. She ran back with a messily wrapped present and gave it to Hailey. Zatanna helped to unwrap the present to reveal the copy of Hansel and Gretal.

"We should probably buy a table and chairs soon," said Dick "You know, the Japanese sit on the floor like we are,"

"There's also something else," said Zatanna "Your father and I have decided it's time to teach you both about being wolves,"

Roe jumped to her feet and turned half-wolf. She began barking and running around the room. Hailey soon followed and they began chasing each other. Dick and Zatanna looked at each other and laughed. Within the past few years, Zatanna's life had turned upside down. She'd fallen in love with a wolf-man, gotten married, had two Wolf Children and moved to the countryside.

* * *

The family walked through the woods together. Roe was running ahead while Zatanna held Hailey. They came to a nice spot and Zatanna sat down under a tree.

"Okay, it says here wolf pups learn to hunt at 4 months and migrate into wolf packs," she read from the book.

"We're a pack!" Roe said, smiling "Me, Daddy and Hailey! We're wolves! Mommy, do you want to be in our pack?"

Zatanna giggled at her daughter's energy.

"When I was learning to hunt," said Dick "I practiced with small animals so go chase field mice and small birds,"

Roe undid her hoodie to reveal the yellow t-shirt underneath and gave her jacket to her mother. She jumped up, did a backflip and turned into a wolf. Hailey shook her head and got on all fours. She still wore a violet jumpsuit to compensate for the change. Dick, sitting beside Zatanna, kissed her cheek before getting on his hands and knees and turning into an adult wolf. While his daughters obtained some reminiscent human features while in wolf-form, Dick looked completely like a wolf.

"C'mon, girls, I'll show you the basics but you also need to be in touch with your instincts," he said, walking by them "Follow me," and the three ran into the trees.

Zatanna stood up and decided to go for a walk around the area while her family hunted.

* * *

Roe and Hailey ran after their father at top speed through the trees. They began panting from the effort but kept going. Dick came to a stop amongst some bushes and the three of them crouched down. In a clearing there was a rabbit. Roe steadily began circling it before pouncing out from the bushes and biting it. Hailey ran out and bit the other end. The Grayson sisters began playing tug of war with it and growling (the Wolf Children equivalent of a sibling fight). Dick came out, bit the middle of the rabbit and pulled it away from his daughters.

"Learn to share, girls," he said, dropping the rabbit between them "Roe was the one to catch this rabbit," and he nudged it to her.

"I wanna show Mommy!" Roe exclaimed, picking the rabbit up with her teeth and running off.

Dick and Hailey looked up at each other. Hailey sniffled and rubbed her head against the ground from an itch. She was so cute as a wolf pup.

* * *

Zatanna was walking by an old dead tree when she saw Roe jumped out off the tall grass and turn half-wolf. In her paw-like-hand was a dead rabbit.

"Look, Mommy! I caught a rabbit!" she shouted to her.

Zatanna smiled at her oldest child.

"That's great, Roe!" she called.

"Can we have it for dinner?!" Roe asked.

"I'm not sure how you're meant to prepare rabbit!" Zatanna answered.

Roe put the rabbit in her mouth and turned wolf again. She ran off back to her father and sister. Zatanna smiled and looked at a farming book for tips on their vegetable patch. Her entire family came running to her and they all had a dead animal in their mouths. She smiled at them all.

* * *

As they headed back to their home, it began to rain. They put their arms over their heads and ran inside. Hailey and Roe watched their parents shut the sliding doors to close the front wall. There was a sudden clap of thunder and Roe ran for her bedroom.

Roe dived under her bed and curled up in fear. There was another clap of thunder and she shrieked in fright. She pulled her blanket off her bed and pulled it underneath to drown out the sound. The door to her room was opened and Zatanna entered. She got on her knees and looked under the bed.

"Robyn? Are you okay, sweetie?" she asked her daughter.

Roe shook her head and buried her face in the duvet. Zatanna poked her head in and lay down on the floor.

"Can I come under here too? I don't like thunder storms," she said and Roe nodded.

Zatanna managed to squeeze under the bed and curled up with her 4-year-old daughter in her arms.

"Mommy? Why aren't you a wolf like me, Hailey and Daddy?" Roe asked.

"Because you, Hailey and Daddy are very special. Being special is good but not everyone is open to the idea of Wolf Children so you can't tell anyone, okay?" Zatanna said.

"Okay, Mommy, it'll be our secret," Roe said and she curled up in her mother's arms.

Zatanna lay there, on top of the duvet with her child in her arms and thought about just how big their family secret was.


	11. Chapter 10: Visitors

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 10:

Visitors

_...The next morning..._

Roe was about to go running outside when she saw the grass had turned to mud. She sat down, pulled her trainers off and pulled on her black Wellington boots with red souls. She took her hoodie off and pulled on a red raincoat with a yellow interior. Roe jumped off the foundation and splashed in a puddle. She ran about, jumping in puddles when she saw the vegetable patch.

"Mommy! Daddy!" she shouted.

"What is it, Roe?" Zatanna asked, running over to her.

"The garden," Roe said and she pointed at it.

Zatanna looked to see the vegetable patch was practically flooded and the leaves of the vegetables floppy. They were overwatered by the storm! Zatanna sighed in annoyance and kicked a rock into the pond that was once their vegetable garden.

"Oh... we'll have to wait for the water to go and replant... everything," she sighed.

Roe pouted and ran back to the house. She pulled her boots and raincoat off to tell Dick the garden was ruined.

* * *

Roe pushed the box of blocks over and she and Hailey began building. They had built quite the block city when a car pulled up. A woman with auburn hair and eyes with an even tan got out, followed by a little boy with black hair and auburn eyes and a little girl with auburn hair and blue eyes.

"Hello?" the woman called "Why, hello there, are your parents around?"

Roe and Hailey looked at them strangely before running to their mother as Zatanna walked into the room.

"Hello," she said "I'm Zatanna Grayson and you are...?"

"Megan Kent," said the woman "This is my son, Kurt, and my daughter, Karen Marie,"

"It's good to meet you. These are my daughters, Roe and Hailey," said Zatanna "What can I help you with?"

"Well," said Megan "We've been meaning to come and meet our new neighbors for a while,"

Hailey toddled out from behind Zatanna's legs and looked at them with her head tilted like a dog's. Karen Marie climbed up the foundation and into the large front room. She stood in front of Hailey and ruffled her hair. Hailey giggled, pulled Karen Marie's hand over to the blocks and they began building.

"Hailey turned 1 yesterday and Roe is 4," said Zatanna "How old are your kids, Mrs. Kent?"

"Mrs. Kent sounds too formal, call me Megan. Kurt is 6 and Karen Marie is 4 like Roe. I assume Roe is the one hiding behind you?" Megan asked.

"She's shy around new people," Zatanna said, picking her up and Roe buried her face in her mother's shoulder.

"So, where's your husband?" Megan asked, looking around.

"Oh, the storm last night flooded our vegetable patch so he's pulling the dead plants out," explained Zatanna "Growing our own produce is harder than expected," and she sheepishly smiled about it.

Megan began laughing but coughed it out. Karen Marie reached over to a box of red, black and yellow blocks but Roe suddenly cried out, jumped from Zatanna's arms and ran over to them. Roe pulled the box away from her and carried the blocks away to her room. Zatanna sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

That's when Dick returned. He sat on the foundation and pulled his Wellington boots off. He climbed into the house, kissed Zatanna hello and ruffled Hailey's hair.

"Where's Robyn?" Dick asked.

"In her room," said Zatanna "She's nervous about Megan, Kurt and Karen Marie being here,"

"I'll go talk to her," he said "You all have fun. We've still got some of Hailey's birthday cake left from yesterday,"

Karen Marie's eyes lit up and she smiled in joy. She looked at Megan for permission and she got it.

* * *

Roe was sitting in the corner of her room and using her blocks to make a wall between her and the world. She didn't like anyone else being here, she didn't know them. What if she turned wolf by accident? She wouldn't be able to stand being the one to reveal the existence of Wolf Children. There was a knock on the door and Dick came in. Roe didn't look at him when he knelt in front of her and she continued to build her wall.

"Hey, Roe? Don't you want to come play with Kurt and Karen Marie?" Dick asked and Roe shook her head.

"I don't... know them," she said "and Mommy says we have to keep our secret,"

"Robyn, that doesn't mean you can't make friends," her father said "So, why don't you come and play? Yeah?"

Roe nodded and knocked her wall down as she got up.

* * *

Dick was back to clearing the vegetable patch and Roe was timidly sticking to her mother's side. She lay down with her head in Zatanna's lap while her mother stroked her head.

"You know, Zatanna, you need to get some furniture in here. Where are you meant to eat dinner?" Megan asked, sitting next to Zatanna on the edge of the foundation.

"Well... it's just... the girls love running around a big empty room and any furniture would ruin that," said Zatanna "Maybe some folding furniture? I'm not sure..."

"Hmm," Megan thought about it "So, what do you guys do for a living?"

"Well, currently, both me and Dick are unemployed. I never finished college because I had Robyn and Dick never went to college," said Zatanna "Are there any jobs out here?"

"Not really. You guys live so far out you'll have to send your kids to preschool and get ready for one heck of a commute," said Megan.

Roe looked up at her mother with confusion.

"What's... preschool?" she asked.

* * *

That night, Roe found out what a preschool was and she instantly wanted to go. If she could just go to school, she'd learn to get along with humans and know about things she could never see. But, her parents said no.

"Why?!" Roe complained.

"Because, you might turn into a wolf in front of everyone," said Dick, looking through the local newspaper for help wanted ads.

"No, I won't!" Roe shouted but her parents remained against it.

Roe turned half-wolf and ran around the room in a tantrum. Hailey just looked at her run until Zatanna picked her youngest daughter up to take to bed.

"I want to go to preschool!" Roe shrieked, clawing at the wall.

"Robyn Mary Grayson! Stop that!" Dick exclaimed.

Roe turned human and began crying her eyes out before running to her bedroom. Zatanna came back in and sat down beside Dick with her head on his shoulder. They looked at the job ads and began circling possible jobs for themselves.

"One of us will have to stay here to look after the girls unless we send Roe to preschool and Hailey to nursery," she said "But, Roe doesn't quite have control of changing into a wolf and Hailey certainly doesn't,"

"Hmm," was Dick's response "Someone has to tend to the vegetables too,"

"We also need some furniture like a table and chairs. Maybe we could get a camping table we can fold away to keep the room open for the girls to run about," said Zatanna, wrapping her arms around him from behind and leaning against his back "We'll figure it out, we always do,"


	12. Chapter 11: Farming and Heatwaves

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 11:

Farming and Heatwaves

Dick and Zatanna planted baby tomato plants in their garden and Roe helped by watering them a little bit after they were planted. After an hour, they were done and Dick had to leave to go job hunting. Zatanna lay down against the hill by the vegetable patch and put her sunhat over her face.

"Mommy?"

She looked up to see Roe covered in scratches and bruises. She wore her usual yellow short-sleeved t-shirt but with white shorts, yellow sandals with red souls and buckles and a white sunhat. She was snivelling with tears in her eyes in wolf-form.

"Oh, Robyn!" Zatanna cried and she picked her up.

Zatanna carried Roe inside and drew a bath to wash away the mud and gently disinfected her cuts before bandaging her wounds. Roe had been attacked by a bear and hadn't been able to fight it off since she was barely more than a wolf pup.

* * *

_...1 month later..._

It was early morning and Roe was already up. Despite there being a Summer heatwave, the morning was cold so Roe put her hoodie on as she ran to check the vegetable garden. When she got there, the tomato leaves were wilted so she ran to tell her parents.

Zatanna and Dick were abruptly awoken when their oldest daughter jumped onto their bed. They sat up and sighed when they realized Roe had tracked mud into their room.

"Mommy! Daddy! The plants are floppy again!" Roe said.

"What?!" her parents exclaimed, jumping out of bed.

* * *

Zatanna and Dick spent that morning pulling the dead tomato plants up and tossing them into a wheelbarrow. Roe now wore plasters on her elbows and knees from continuously falling over all the time. The heatwave hadn't let up so the Grayson sisters were splashing in an inflatable paddling pool. They had the radio on and it was playing some music.

"This is going to take forever and we need to know what killed them or it might happen again," said Dick, wiping his forehead.

Roe jumped out of the pool in her cute yellow swimsuit with black bows down the front and she ran to her parents. She was going to ask for food when she noticed how exhausted they were. On her feet were her sandels and on her head was her sunhat. Roe looked at their house and ran inside.

When she came out, she had a tray of ice cold lemonade they had bought. It kept spilling out over the top and she came to a stop by the vegetable garden. Roe put the drinks down on the ground and panted from the heat.

"Mommy, Daddy! Look it!" she said and they looked at her.

She smiled and picked the drinks up in her hands. Roe walked over to them and handed them the drinks.

"Thanks, sweetie, this is really nice," said Zatanna "This isn't a ploy to get us to let you go to preschool, is it?"

"Huh? That woulda been a great idea!" Roe said, making it obvious she hadn't thought of that.

Roe stretched her arms above her head and Zatanna gave her a sip of lemonade.

* * *

Roe filled her drinking canteen with water and stuffed some ice cubes through the spout. She put it over her shoulder before running back outside. She returned to her family who were still by the vegetable garden and looked around. It was so hot and there was nothing to do. A car came to a stop on the road and Roe saw an old man walk up the hill to them.

"Hello there," said Zatanna, planting a seed potato in the ground "We're the Graysons and you are?"

"Kent Nelson," he said and he pulled the seed potato out "Soil's not right for planting yet, dig it up some more,"

Dick and Zatanna looked at each other and Dick shrugged. He handed his wife a pitchfork and they began upturning the soil again. Roe took a drink from her canteen and helped Hailey take a sip.

"Let's get the hose, Hailey!" Roe exclaimed and Hailey nodded.

Hailey climbed out of the pool in her lavender swimsuit that had white flowers on it with violet outlines. She toddled after her big sister as fast as she could but Roe had already turned on the hose and was splashing water everywhere.

"Be careful you two!" Zatanna called to them.

Roe squirted the water at Hailey, who squealed in delight.

"You two better turn that off! There's a hose ban!" Mr. Nelson called to them.

Roe sadly turned the hose off and they returned to the paddling pool. She got a cup of water and poured it on Hailey's head. They continued to splash as Dick and Zatanna worked under Mr. Nelson's guidance.

"You've got to work harder than that," he told them.

Dick and Zatanna forced the plow and pitchfork into the ground and upturned the earth.

"What... about... fertilizer?" Zatanna panted.

"Leaves from the forest will do you fine," Mr. Nelson said, walking along the top of the low hill next to the vegetable garden "When you're done, dig this patch up too,"

"That seems a bit much," said Dick, leaning against his plow.

"What are you... deaf?" Mr. Nelson said, ignoring him.

Dick and Zatanna looked at each other and sighed as they got to work.

* * *

Roe taught Hailey paticake as they waited for their parents to be done. The Sun was going down and they hadn't had dinner yet. Mr. Nelson was cutting the seed potatoes in half.

"Wait a week then plant them cut-side down. Don't you _dare _water them... just leave them be," he said and dropped the plastic bag of potatoes by them then left.

Dick and Zatanna picked their daughters up and headed back to their house.

"That man is scary," said Roe in her mother's arms "I'm hungry, what's for dinner?"


	13. Chapter 12: In It Together

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 12:

In It Together

_...4 months later, November..._

Dick pulled a plant up to find dozens of potatoes. The entire family smiled. Success! They'd finally grown something that didn't die. Eagerly, Roe pulled some up and they flew all over the place. Hailey happily dusted the dirt off them and put them in the bucket. When all the potatoes were all pulled from the ground, they all carried buckets of potatoes inside to be cleaned in the utility room's sink.

That night, they ate mash potatoes and beans for dinner. Roe happily stuffed her face, asking for more and more and more.

"Robyn, you're father and I have been talking and... well..." said Zatanna "You'll be 5 in 5 months so, we've decided, if you can prove you have control of turning into a wolf, you can go to Kindergarten,"

Roe stared at them in shock before jumping up and turning half-wolf.

"But, only if you control the change. Okay?" Dick said.

Roe's wolf features disappeared and she returned to human. She fell to the floor and continued to eat her dinner. They really needed to get a table and chairs.

* * *

Zatanna went to their neighbors and gave them all a bag of potatoes. The effort was rewarded by them giving her things they had grown in return. When she returned home, Zatanna had lettuce, tomatoes, milk, eggs, corn and weat. Megan had come with her to help carry everything.

"Thanks for helping, Megan," said Zatanna.

"No problem, Zatanna," said Megan as they walked inside.

"I'm home!" Zatanna called into the house "And I've brought Megan and food with me!"

Roe walked out of the bathroom, pulling her shorts up, and ran to her mother. She hugged Zatanna's legs and seemed to be sad.

"I'll put these in your kitchen," said Megan, taking all the bags of food and walking away.

Zatanna got on her knees and put her hands on her daughter's tiny shoulders.

"What's wrong, Robyn?" she asked.

Roe lifted her toy robin out of her pocket to reveal it had a wing ripped off and she pulled the wing out of her back pocket. Zatanna took the pieces before giving Roe a smile and a reassuring pat on the head.

"Don't worry, honey, I'll fix it for you," she said, putting the pieces on top of the shelves where Roe couldn't reach it.

"Hey, Zatanna?! Where do you want this stuff?!" Megan called from the kitchen.

Zatanna walked over to the kitchen and stepped down to it. Megan had gone to the other end of the kitchen and stepped down to the refrigerator with the food on the step beside her.

"In the fridge is good," said Zatanna, walking over to her.

The kitchen was somewhat two rooms. The half behind the front room was cabinets, work serfices and the sink that was separated from the other half by an archway. Through the archway and down the step was the fridge, oven and microwave.

"It's... so small," said Megan "I've got it!"

* * *

"This is too much!" Zatanna exclaimed.

Two men carried a full sized fridge off the back of a pickup truck and carried it in the direction of her house. Megan was directing them as Zatanna ran behind.

"Oh, uh, and, Zatanna, this is my husband, Conner, and his brother, Clark. Say hello guys!" Megan said.

"Hello," they said and continued through the house.

"This old thing was gathering dust in the shed, anyway," said Conner.

"Now, it's going to good use," said Clark.

Roe and Hailey were hiding when Roe decided to prove she had control. She turned full wolf with her hoodie tied around her neck and walked into view. The Kents were leaving when they noticed Roe.

"Since when did you have a dog?" Megan asked.

Zatanna turned around and nearly had a heart attack.

"That doesn't look like a dog. More like a wolf!" Clark said.

"Don't be dumb, Clark, that's a German Shepherd crossed with another breed," said Conner "Am I right, Zatanna?"

"Uh, well, I," stammered Zatanna.

"Hey, where'd it go?" Megan asked and they looked around.

That's when Roe came running through the house from the backdoor and stopped at the edge of the foundation.

"Hi, Mrs. Kent. Hi, Mr. Kent. Hi, other Mr. Kent," she said "How are you?"

"Ah, you and your doggie's clothes match. How adorable," said Megan.

"That's my Robyn... adorable," said Zatanna in disbelief.

Roe smiled, ran off and jumped off the foundation and out of sight. What reappeared was her wolf form. Zatanna was as white as a sheet and her heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird's wing.

"Good thing Old Man Nelson told everyone to watch out for you and your family, Zatanna, or all that food would have gone to waste," said Clark as they climbed into their truck.

"Idiot! That was supposed to be a secret!" Conner scolded.

Zatanna thought about that as she waved goodbye to them. Then she realized...

* * *

Mr. Nelson was working in the fields as the Sun went down. Someone on a bike was coming his way. When they stopped, it was revealed to be Zatanna with Hailey in a baby carrier on her back. She seemed to have been in a rush to get there as she was panting for breath.

"You-You t-told ev-every-everyone to wa-watch ou-ou-t f-for us? I tho-thought y-you di-didn't li-ke us?" Zatanna gasped, taking a bottle from her bike basket and taking a gulp of water.

"Well... better you four than some ex-businessman thinking he's signed on for the easy life," said Mr. Nelson, grabbing the handles of a wheelbarrow and pushing it away.

Zatanna smiled.

"I get why you got us to plant so much," she said "We're all in it together,"

Mr. Nelson looked at her with an eyebrow raised. She got back on her bike and rode away with her child on her back.


	14. Chapter 13: Frozen Fear

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 13:

Frozen Fear

_...1 month later, December..._

It was Christmas time and the corner of the front room had the Grayson family's first proper Christmas tree with red, yellow and blue coloured decorations. They'd gotten a three-seater leather sofa that was against the wall by the kitchen and they had a table they could fold the sides down for space that was pushed to the corner when not being used. They had gifts under the tree and Roe kept pressing a wolf ear to them to try and figure out what they were. Roe now wore black warm jogging bottoms and a red jumper with a robin on the front.

They forced two of the sliding doors of the front wall aside and looked out. The entire countryside was covered in a perfect-shade-of-white freshly fallen snow. They all looked at each other and smiled.

"It snowed!" Roe squealed and tried to run out into it.

Zatanna grabbed her before she hit to snow and pulled her back inside.

"Get dressed first!" she said.

Roe put her winter clothes on then added her Wellington boots, red raincoat, red-and-black striped gloves, red-and-black striped scarf with black bobbles hanging from the ends and a red-and-black striped hat. With her mother's approval now she was dressed for it, Roe ran out and jumped into the snow. She landed face-down and made a snow angel before turning over and laughing. Hailey was dressed in a violet thermal jumpsuit, violet black booties, violet mittens with black stars, violet scarf with black stars and a violet hat with mouse ears and a mouse face. She hopped off the foundation and the snow went up to her waist. Zatanna pulled her fur-lined dark brown coat on and pulled her black snow boots on. She pulled her hood up and stepped into the snow. She pulled Hailey out of the snow and sat her on her hip. Zatanna collapsed backwards into the snow with her child and they made snow angels. Dick jumped into the air and turned into a fur-covered adult wolf. He landed in the snow and nodded his head in the direction of the forest. They all smiled...

* * *

Dick ran ahead in between the trees at max speed with his daughters behind him in human form. Roe jumped off a log and turned wolf. Zatanna was running behind her and caught the clothes that flew off her canine physiology. Hailey tumbled in the snow and became a wolf, Zatanna catching her booties, mittens and hat since the thermal jumpsuit adjusted to her wolf-form.

Zatanna ran after her wolf husband and Wolf Children as they ran through the trees. They came to the top of a high hill and the Grayson sisters went sliding down it. Dick followed and Zatanna went after them. She tumbled down the hill but managed to get to her feet and slid down the hill besides her family. She began to stumble when Dick, turned half-wolf, wrapped his arms around her and kept her steady. They all went flying into the air off a ramp of snow and landed in the snow. The entire Grayson family threw their heads up and howled. They all fell onto their backs and panted as the adrenaline rush died down.

"I love you all," Zatanna said, gasping in breath.

She turned to her side to see Dick as his lower jaw lowered and closed his mouth as he breathed. She leaned up and kissed the side of his snout. Dick returned to human form so she was lowered to be kissing him properly. When they parted, Zatanna rested her head on his shoulder and they both relaxed in the snow.

* * *

Hailey, in wolf-form, walked along the trees above a river and she looked around. She looked down at the river and saw a king fisher sitting on a stone in the middle of the water. She was never good at hunting because she'd get too excited and scare her prey off. But, right now, Hailey felt like she could do anything.

She silently jumped down to the riverbank and prowled around so slowly the king fisher didn't even notice her. She suddenly pounced forward and grabbed the bird in her mouth. It flapped between her jaws and she bit down to kill it. Hailey turned to jump to the riverbank again but her paw stepped on her scarf. She tripped herself up and fell into the water.

Hailey shrieked with fear as she was pulled downstream by the rapid current.

"Mommy! Daddy! Come quick! Hailey fell in the river!" Roe shouted but they were too far away.

Roe began running alongside the river to keep up with Hailey and let out a howl for help.

* * *

Dick and Zatanna were walking to where their daughters ran off to when they heard a howl. Dick's wolf instincts kicked in and deciphered what the howl meant. It was desperate, strained and pleading. It was a howl for help! Dick turned wolf and ran after it. Zatanna became scared and ran after him in fear.

The twigs scratched at her face and ankles as she ran after the black wolf that was her husband. He was getting farther and farther ahead and she felt a stitch in her side. Whatever was happening, Zatanna had to get there as soon as possible.

* * *

Dick came to the riverbank and saw Roe up ahead and howling.

"Roe, what's wrong?!" he barked.

"Hailey fell in!" Roe howled.

Dick looked into the river to see a glimmer of his youngest pup. He jumped in and swam with all his might. Hailey was half-wolf currently and the little fur she had was what kept her alive. Dick gently took hold of her abdomen in his mouth and swam back to the surface.

Zatanna came to a sudden stop against a tree and looked down at the riverbank. She saw Dick's back as he held something and Roe was looking into his arms. Dick placed what he held on the ground and Zatanna saw Hailey's pale face.

"My baby!" she shrieked.

She fell to the riverbank and scrambled over to her family. Zatanna pulled Hailey into her arms. She unzipped her jacket and held her baby to her. Dick hugged them both in his arms (he was already dry somehow) and pulled Roe in. Hailey was so cold and frail.

Years later, Zatanna would say her heart stopped and all the air left her lungs. She felt like a part of her had died and her blood ran cold. The look of Hailey's unconscious face made her feel like time was ticking by at an agonizingly slow past.

Hailey coughed and looked up at her family's faces. She seemed confused but then squealed and began struggling to be let go.

"Momma! Dada! Roe-Roe!" she cried out but began to cough and fell asleep.

* * *

Hailey was given a warm bath, put in her comfiest and coziest pyjamas and tucked up in bed. Since turning 1, she was sleeping in Roe's old toddler sized bed since Roe was given a full-sized bed. Hailey's nose and cheeks were red while the rest of her face was as white as a sheet. Zatanna put a wet flannel over her forehead to bring her temperature down and she helped her sip some warm milk.

"Feeling better, Hails?" she asked her 1-year-old daughter.

"Woofie," Hailey murmured.

Woofie was the toy wolf Zatanna had sawn her before she was born. Zatanna took the wolf toy from where it leaned against the bedside table lamp and tucked it in with Hailey. Hailey coughed and sniffled. Zatanna took a tissue and wiped her daughter's nose. She turned on the nightlight, closed the curtains and turned off the overhead light.


	15. Chapter 14: Christmas Day

Three Wolves and One Human 

Chapter 14:

Christmas Day

_...2 weeks later..._

Roe opened her eyes and sat up. At the bottom of her bed was a red stocking with a white fur lining. She scrambled over and pulled it onto the bed. Roe reached in to find a surplus of candy, a Christmas snowglobe with snowflake shaped snow, a pack of Christmas pencils and rubber, fuzzy red socks and a chocolate orange. She smiled, her eyes sparkling, and opened the chocolate orange. She went half-wolf, squeezed it in her paw-like-hands, turned human and took a segment of chocolate orange out. This was her first Christmas in this house and she was already loving it. Roe ate half of her chocolate orange and wrapped up the second half to be eaten later. She got out of bed and left her bedroom.

She crept to Hailey's room and opened the door. She was sitting up in bed and pulling apart the wrapping paper. Roe walked over to her and put the elastic band bracelet on her little sister's wrist. Hailey seemed to have recovered from falling in the river but she still had a bad case of the sniffles. They crept to the end of the short hallway and into their parents bedroom. Zatanna and Dick were both still fast sleep and, if Roe knew how to tell time, she'd have seen the clock and known it was 6 a.m.. But, Roe _ didn't _ know how to tell time and the Grayson sisters climbed onto their mother and father's bed. The two Wolf Children stood up and began jumping up and down.

"It's Christmas! It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" Roe squealed.

"Chrismos! Chrismos! Chrismos!" Hailey shrieked in joy.

Zatanna and Dick sat up and looked at their girls who were overjoyed by December 25th. They looked at each other and began to laugh.

* * *

Roe sat amongst used wrapping paper as she unwrapped a box sent from Dick's adoptive parents. From what Dick had told them in his letters about Roe, she came off as a tomboy and they weren't that far off. That's why, when Roe had completely unwrapped her present, there was a box containing something called: My First Skateboard. Until that point, she didn't know what a skateboard was but, looking at the pictures on the box, she instantly wanted to ride one. Inside the box was a black helmet that was a bit too big, elbow pads, knee pads and, of course, a skateboard.

After all the present were unwrapped, they cleared everything aside so Roe could take her first ride across the living room (luckily it had a wood floor). Zatanna made sure the oversized helmet was on as tight as possible and Dick made sure her feet were in the right place. Hailey sat on the sofa, happily playing with the toy animals she'd gotten. Roe took a deep breath and stood as still as possible.

"Alright, honey, I'm going to give you a push. Okay?" Dick said and she nodded "One, two and... three,"

Roe kept leaning towards her parents in fear and so fell off the skateboard. She got up and looked to see burns on her hands from skidding against the wood floor. After having bandages put around her burns, she studdonly tried again. This time, Roe remained as still as possible but the skateboard stopped in the middle of the room.

"Push with your foot, Roe, then put your foot back on the board," Dick instructed her.

Roe took a deep breath and whimpered slightly as the skateboard moved when she lowered her foot to the ground. When she tried to push off, the board flew out from under her and skidded back to her parents. After getting a bandages and her mother's ankle support put on her ankle, Roe was ready to try again. This time, before Dick could push her off, there was a knock on the door. Zatanna went to get it to find the Kents there.

"Merry Christmas and happy holidays!" Megan said "We thought it would be lonely for you all to spend Christmas up here so we've come to spread the Christmas cheer! Oh, and this is Lois Lane-Kent, she's Clark's wife,"

Zatanna invited them in but all had to duck when the skateboard flew out from under Roe's feet again. Roe landed on the floor with a thud but immediately got up and ran to retrieve her skateboard. Hailey got off the sofa and ran to her father. He comfortingly picked her up and she buried her head in his shoulder.

"What's wrong with Hailey?" Karen Marie asked.

"She's getting over a nasty cold and fever," said Zatanna "So, who wants hot chocolate with chocolate chip cookies?"

Karen Marie and Kurt began jumping around with their hands in the air and followed Zatanna as she walked to the kitchen. Conner, Clark, Megan and Lois watched Roe as she tried to skateboard again and fell flat on her face. Dick got Hailey's blanket and pillow from her bed and lay her down on the couch with him sitting next to her. When she sneezed, she went half-wolf so he'd quickly pull her blanket over her until her wolf features went away.

"Where'd Roe even get a skateboard?" Megan asked with a mug of Zatanna's hot chocolate in her hand.

"My parents sent it from Gotham," Dick said.

"We've never met your parents or seen any visiting family. I was starting to think you were an orphan," said Megan.

"I am. My _adoptive_ parents sent it to Roe. A good gift considering they've never met her and I'm not even sure they know about Hailey," said Dick "I actually have a brother and sister too. Tim's attending law school in Gotham and Helena... well... she's only 3 years older than Roe. I barely know Helena because she was born when I was 19 and I left home when I was 18,"

Roe pushed the skateboard off and managed to stay standing. When it began to slow down, she pushed off again and made it to the other side of the living room. She jumped off and jumped with joy. Roe picked it up and thought this was the starting of a _be-u-tee-full_ friendship.


	16. Chapter 15: New-Year's

Three Wolves and One Human 

Chapter 15:

New-Year's

_...6 days later..._

Don't ask Dick and Zatanna what they were thinking when they took their Wolf Children to Times Square on New-Year's Eve. They thought it would be a good experience for the girls. They arrived by plain early in the morning so Hailey was asleep in Zatanna's arms and Roe was curled up in her seat. The plain came in for a landing and Roe woke-up. She crawled over Dick's lap and pressed her nose to the glass. This was the first time they'd returned to New York since moving away.

Hailey was fast asleep in her stroller that Zatanna pushed and Roe was on Dick's shoulders. She looked around at all the blinking lights and bustling people on the way out of the airport. Roe began getting nervous by all these people and she cowered. Dick took her off his shoulders and held her to his side. So many people... it was overwhelming.

* * *

Dick and Zatanna took their children to a playground where they went on the swings. Hailey squealed in the baby swing as Dick pushed it and Zatanna pushed Roe on the kid's swing. Roe wanted to go on the big swings but her parents wouldn't let her.

"Higher, Mommy, higher!" Roe exclaimed, laughing "Can we get a swing?!"

Dick and Zatanna looked at each other and thought about it. They certainly had enough room at their house for it. Roe began complaining to be let out and, as soon as her feet touched the ground, she ran for the seesaw. Dick continued to push Hailey in the baby swing while Zatanna pushed the seesaw down to send Roe up.

"Zatanna Zatara?"

Zatanna turned around to see Bette for the first time in years with a 5-year-old boy by her side. Bette had longer hair in a ponytail and a headband and the little boy with her had blonde hair like hers.

"Bette? It's been so long. Who's this?" Zatanna asked.

"Oh, this is my son. His name's Tyson. It's my weekend to have him since his farther and I have separated," said Bette "So, who's this?"

"This is my daughter, Roe, she's 4 and, over there with my husband, is my youngest daughter, Hailey, she's 1," said Zatanna.

Bette looked over to Hailey and let out a long low whistle.

"He's cute. What's his name?" she asked.

"Dick Grayson," Zatanna said.

"_The _Dick whom you met at college?" Bette exclaimed "I _knew _ you liked him! So, where'd you go? You quit and disappeared,"

"Well, I had Roe so I quit work and left college," said Zatanna, picking Roe up in her arms "We're just here for the New-Year's celebrations then we're heading back to the country,"

"That's great," said Bette "Well, we've got to go. See you later, Zatanna, we should grab lunch some time,"

Zatanna saved goodbye to her old co-worker and went over to Dick and Hailey.

* * *

Hailey was crying for no reason and everyone in the café was glaring at them. Zatanna worryingly rocked her youngest daughter in her arms to try and calm her. Roe had her hood up and her little arms were wrapped over her head to try to drown out her sister's cries.

"For goodness' sake, lady, shut that brat of yours up!" a man yelled at her.

"Hey! Don't talk to my wife like that!" Dick yelled back, standing up and sinking wolf claws into the table "And don't about my child like that!"

Zatanna coughed and Dick followed her eye gestures to see he was losing control of the change. His claws retracted from the table and he walked out of the booth.

"C'mon, let's go somewhere else for lunch," he said.

Zatanna stood up and put Hailey in her stroller. Hailey sniffed, stopped crying and started giggling.

"It just wanted to go in its stroller?! What a brat!" the man yelled.

Roe jumped onto the man's table and began pumiling him with her little fists.

"Stop yelling at my sister you big meanie! And she's a she, not an it!" she shouted.

Dick picked his oldest daughter up as she continued to tell the man off and the Graysons walked out of the café.

* * *

Hailey was happy now she was in her stroller and moving again. Dick was carrying Roe under his arm as she pouted for not being allowed to defend her little sister. Zatanna sighed and they looked for somewhere to eat. There was a Japanese place across the street and they crossed to it.

A bell rang when they entered and they went up to the counter. Dick let Roe down and she took some packs of chopsticks from the box by the cash register. After ordering, they took a seat by the window. Roe ripped the chopstick packs open and pulled the wooden chopsticks apart. Dick gave her the plastic training chopsticks that were still connected at the ends. The waiter came and passed them a bowl of noodles for Dick, a plate of sushi for Zatanna and noodle soup for Roe. Roe happily slurped up noodles while she stood on her chair. Hailey became fussy and Zatanna began feeding her blueberries.

"When's New-Year's?" Roe asked, picking up her bowl and drinking her soup.

"In a few hours, sweetie," Zatanna said, wiping Hailey's face with a wetwipe.

Roe looked out the window and ate the last of her noodle soup before asking for more.

* * *

The crowd in Times Square was huge. Dick and Zatanna held their children in their arms and held hands to stay together. Roe held onto Dick's side and Zatanna had Hailey in a baby harness on her front with her arm around her. Hailey was asleep with her head to Zatanna's shoulder.

"Daddy... I'm sleepy..." Roe murmured.

"But, look, Roe! The sphere's going down. You want to count down 'til the New-Year?" Dick said, pointing to the sphere.

"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One..." the entire crowd shouted "Happy New-Year!"

Dick put his arm around Zatanna's waist and pulled her in while being careful of their children.

"We made it another year," Zatanna said, smiling.

"Here's to our family and another year together," said Dick and he kissed her.

* * *

Roe opened her eyes and sat up. She yawned and lay back in the plain seat. She rested her head against her mother's arm and fell asleep. Zatanna smiled at her and tucked Roe up in her blanket to sleep through the flight.


	17. Chapter 16: School

Three Wolves and One Human 

Chapter 16:

School

_...8 months later, September..._

Over the following year, Roe turned 5 and Hailey turned 2. In May, Roe kept bumping into things and was taken to an optician where she was told she was short-sighted. From then on, she wore a pair of eyeglasses with slightly oversized square lenses. When Summer Vacation ended, Roe became determined to go to Kindergarten and, finally, her parents agreed. Roe repeatedly packed her backpack of her school things.

"Do you have... your notebook?" Dick asked her.

Roe reached into her backpack and pulled out a yellow notebook with a plastic cover.

"Your pencil case?" Zatanna asked.

She reached in and pulled out her red pencil case that she'd written 'Robyn G.' on the side of.

"Your glasses case with your cleaning cloth?" Dick asked.

Roe took her black glasses case with red robin silhouettes across it, opened it and took out the matching cleaning cloth.

"Mommy, Daddy, I'll be fine," she said, packing everything away and zipping her backpack up.

Zatanna got up from the sofa and knelt across from her oldest child.

"It's very important you don't turn into a wolf at school," she said.

"I know, Mommy," said Roe.

"I've even come up with a little chant to help you. Whenever you feel like turning, just say it," said Zatanna.

"How does it go?" Roe asked, looking up at her mother with curiosity.

"I'm gonna be a little girl, all the way home," said her mother, tapping her heart.

"I'm gonna...?"

"I'm gonna be a little girl, all the way home," repeated Zatanna.

"I'm gonna be a little girl, all the way home," said Roe, tapping her heart and she smiled.

Zatanna smiled at her and pulled her oldest daughter into her arms to take to bed. Even as Zatanna was tucking Roe up to sleep, she was happily reciting the chant.

* * *

_...The next morning..._

Roe was so excited to be going to school. She recited the chant as they walked from the house, as they waited for the bus and on the bus. The bus took them to the bus stop around the corner of the elementary school and Roe happily hopped off. Zatanna took her hand and walked beside her to the school gates. When they reached them, Roe stopped and stared into the playground. It was so big and pact with kids.

"I'm gonna be a little girl, all the way home," she said to give herself strength.

Zatanna reassuringly squeezed her hand and pulled her inside. They were meant to go to the Kindergarten room but they weren't sure where that was. Roe dragged her feet as they walked inside and leaned back on the heels of her new sneakers as Zatanna talked to the receptionist. Zatanna then tugged her daughter along the hallways and through the crowds. Roe was so scared she was considering running away. Zatanna came to a stop outside of a room with paper ladybugs on the door. A teacher came out the door and Roe hid behind her mother's legs.

"You must be Mrs. Grayson," said the teacher "I'm Laura, the teaching assistant, and this must be Robyn," and she crouched down to Roe's level "Hello, it's nice to meet you,"

Roe buried her face against her mother's skirt.

"She's shy," said Zatanna "Um, is Karen Marie Kent in this class? She's a friend and her mother said she was,"

"Karen Marie? Yes, she is," said Laura, looking up at her.

"You hear that, Roe? Karen Marie's here," Zatanna said, putting her hand over Roe's head "C'mon, sweetie, I need to go home and look after Hailey so your daddy can go to work,"

"Who's Hailey?" Laura asked, standing up.

"Roe's 2-year-old sister," said Zatanna "We don't send our kids to nursery and Roe didn't go to preschool,"

"Well, a lot of these kids have known each other their whole lives,"

Roe stepped out from behind Zatanna and walked towards the open door. She stopped in the doorway and looked at all the energetic 5 and 6-year-olds.

"I'm gonna be a little girl, all the way home," she croaked.

Zatanna got on her knees behind her daughter, hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

"Have fun, Roe, I'll pick you up at 3:30," Zatanna said, getting up and walking away.

Before she was even around the corner, Roe threw herself around her leg. Zatanna pulled her off and hugged her.

"Mommy, I've changed my mind. I don't want to go to school," Roe cried.

Zatanna reached into her daughter's backpack and pulled out her toy robin. Roe grabbed it and hugged it.

"Don't worry, Roe, Mr. Robin will be with you all day long," said Zatanna "Okay?"

Roe nodded and Zatanna put her down. Laura took Roe's hand and led her into the classroom.

* * *

Karen Marie found Roe in moments and they stayed by each other's side. Roe noted Karen Marie's dress was black with a red cross across the front and Karen Marie confirmed she copied Roe's signature colours. They put their backpacks in their cubbies and sat down in the middle of the room when they were called. Roe kept her toy robin with her and hugged it in her arms.

"Welcome to elementary school, everyone," said the teacher "I'm Mrs. Gordon-Young,"

"Hi, Mommy!" a girl that seemed half-Caucasian/half-African American suddenly exclaimed and everyone giggled.

"As my daughter just pointed out, I'm also Lillianna's mother," said Mrs. Gordon-Young "I'll be your Kindergarten teacher. Now, do you know why there're ladybugs on the door?"

Everyone stuck their hands in the air except Roe and Mrs. Gordon-Young picked Karen Marie.

"Because this is the ladybug class?" Karen Marie said and Mrs. Gordon-Young nodded.

"Yes, that's right. This is the ladybug class. There's also a butterfly class and a dragonfly class. Now, to get better acquainted with each other, I want you all to get an English book that Laura has and list five things you like to do in it," said Mrs. Gordon-Young, gesturing to Laura and holding up five fingers.

Karen Marie dragged Roe to her feet and they were given their books. They sat at a red table and Karen Marie messily wrote her name on the little line on the cover. Roe decided to copy, went and got her pencil case from her backpack, sat back down and wrote her name. She very carefully wrote "Robyn G." on the front and opened the book. Mrs. Gordon-Young looked at Roe and wheeled over, revealing herself to be paraplegic.

"Is something wrong..." she looked at the cover of the book "Robyn?"

"I... don't know how to count," Roe admitted as if ashamed "I'm sorry,"

"Don't be. That's why you come to school. To learn," said Mrs. Gordon-Young and she wrote 1 to 5 down the edge of the page "So, what do you like to do?"

"Skateboarding," said Roe.

"Okay, can you spell 'skateboarding'?" the teacher asked and Roe shook her head "S-K-A-T-E-B-O-A-R-D-I-N-G,"

Roe wrote down what she was told and went on to write 2. running, 3. playing, 4. jumping and 5. climbing. Which really meant running through the forest, playing tug-of-war with Hailey over a dead rabbit, pouncing onto prey and going up craggy rocks while hunting.


	18. Chapter 17: Family Reunion

** There are gonna be bigger time-skips from now on.**

* * *

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 17:

Family Reunion

Despite fearing she was out of place, Roe soon realized her classmates had no reason to suspect she was a Wolf Child and began making friends. Obviously there was Karen Marie but, also, Lillianna Young and Irey West. Roe's wolf ancestry gave her extraordinary abilities even as a human and so Roe became the star athlete of all the Kindergarten classes. It took a while but Roe finally found her own pack.

* * *

_...2 years later..._

Roe happily skateboarded down the foundation only to stumble due to her skateboard being too small now. She fell to the grass and stood up.

"Roe, that skateboard is too small," Zatanna called to her from the vegetable garden.

Roe picked her board up and climbed back onto the foundation. She had grown since starting elementary school and now commonly wore a black hooded jumper with a yellow interior, red short-sleeved t-shirt underneath, black denim miniskirt with yellow stitching, red leggings and yellow converse sneakers with white laces. Since it was July though, she was wearing yellow shorts, a white t-shirt with a red Sun on the front and white flipflops. At this time she also wore her helmet that she had written 'Robyn G.' on the side of, elbow pads, knee pads and a pair of black fingerless bike gloves to protect her hands. She also had a new prescription and now wore glasses with oval lenses.

Hailey came running out in a lavender sundress with a white short-sleeved t-shirt underneath and she jumped out in her bare feet. She landed on her feet and ran over to her mother with a purple ribbon in hand. Zatanna stopped her gardening, took her gardening gloves off and tied Hailey's hair into a French plait. Roe sat down and looked at her board on her lap. The "My First Skateboard" was for ages 4-6 and she was now 7. Hailey was 4-years-old now, maybe she'd like it? But, what would Roe ride?

She got off the foundation of the house and headed towards the tilting building none of them had gone near in the 3 years they'd lived there. She looked inside only for the bats to fly near her. Roe was completely thrown back in fear and went half-wolf. She sat up and plucked up all her wolf courage to go in. She prowled in on all fours and her wolf ears twitched as she listened out incase of more bats. Roe saw an old work bench and ran over. She got to her hind legs and turned human. Across the work bench was old carving tools and, on a shelf, was a carved wooden fox. Carving. Maybe she could _make _a new skateboard! She'd have to do research and Dick would have to help but she was willing to give it a try.

* * *

Nearly 10 years. It had nearly been 10 years since they'd seen him. What kind of parent would let that happen? He moved so much without telling anyone. Good thing they were on Christmas card terms or they wouldn't know where to look. The car was coming to a stop when a girl came running out in front of them. She yelled at them with wood and tools in her arms and ran off. When they got out of the car, Helena instantly stepped in mud and shrieked because she was wearing sandals.

"Mom, there're strangers!" the girl they nearly hit called out.

Zatanna, now 29-years-old apposed to the 20-year-old they'd last seen, walked out from behind some trees with gardening tools in her belt, a large sunhat and gardening gloves on. She walked over, panting, and fanned herself with her hand.

"Can I... help you?" she panted, taking her hat off and fanning herself.

"Yes, we're looking for Dick Grayson," said the man.

"Dick's working. You look familiar? Have we met- Bruce? Selina? Tim?" Zatanna exclaimed with a smile "It's been so long! What're you doing here?"

"It's been nearly 10 years, we can't visit?" Selina asked, smiling.

A woman got out of the car with a 2-year-old boy in her arms and a 1-year-old girl on her back. She walked around the car and passed the boy to Tim.

"Who's this?" Zatanna asked.

"Zatanna," said Tim, putting his arm around the blonde woman's shoulders "This is my wife, Cassie Sandsmark-Drake, our son, Jason Drake, and our daughter, Ruby Drake,"

"Last time I saw you, you were 15 and now you have a family of your own? Congratulations, you two," said Zatanna.

"Speaking of 'a family of your own', where's our grandchildren?" Selina asked, rubbing her hands together "I'm gonna spoil them rotten!"

Zatanna laughed and turned to the house. She raised her hands to her mouth and prepared to yell.

"Roe! Hailey! We have visitors!" she shouted.

"Who?!" came Hailey's voice from... somewhere.

"Your Grandpa Bruce! Your Grandma Selina! Your Aunt Helena! Your Uncle Tim! Your Aunt Cassie! Your Cousin Jason! And your Cousin Ruby!" Zatanna responded.

"Who are they?!" came Roe's voice from the shed.

"Family from your father's side!" Zatanna shouted.

There was silence until there was a thud on the car. They turned to see Roe and Hailey on the roof of the car. Alfred got out of the driver's seat and tried to get them off.

"Please, young mistresses, this is a rental," he pleaded.

A pickup truck drove up the road and Dick got out. He waved to Conner as he drove away and he turned to walk up the road. He saw his adoptive family and his jaw dropped.

"Hey! Dad! Are these your's?!" Roe shouted, standing on the car roof to Alfred's protest.

* * *

Helena looked around the house as they sat in the front room. Roe was drawing in her notebook her plans to make a skateboard and Hailey was sitting on Selina's lap.

"It's nice to see you all again," said Dick "and to meet my niece and nephew. I can't believe you named your son after Jay,"

"Who?" Roe asked, looking up from her notebook.

"We had another brother called Jason Todd," said Dick "He died over a decade ago but he was so young it hurt even more for us,"

They all nodded except Helena, who was born after Jason Todd had died. Everyone was sitting on the floor because 1. it was a force of habit for the Graysons and 2. the table was too small for them all. Roe began drawing a design for the bottom of her new board when Bruce looked to see what she was doing.

"What's that, Roe?" he asked.

"It's a design for my new skateboard. The one I got for Christmas a few years ago is too small now," she said, nonchalantly.

Bruce and Selina looked at each other and looked at Dick.

"She loves skateboarding," he answered to their looks "Great gift, by the way,"

They looked back at Roe as she happily took a red crayon and coloured in her design.

"So, how long are you in town?" Zatanna asked.

"As long as you'll have us!" Selina exclaimed.

"Great! You can help me make my skateboard but you'll have to lose that rental. We use bikes around here," said Roe, trying to draw a red bird design.


	19. Chapter 18: To be Human or a Wolf

Three Wolves and One Human 

Chapter 18:

To be Human or a Wolf?

_...1 year later..._

Hailey started elementary school the following year and instantly hated it. Roe was in the 3rd grade by then and wasn't usually in contact with kindergartners. Although, she'd sometimes look over the fenced in kindergarten playground and check on Hailey only to see her murmuring the chant as someone bullied her. Unfortunately, Roe had her own problems with fitting in.

When her friends and she went looking for treasure, they'd make daisey chains and Roe'd dig up a dead badger. When everyone were showing things they cherished during show-and-tell, Roe'd bring a snake skin of a snake she found before she moved out of New York 4 years ago. When it was cooking class and they were learning to prepare meat, Roe'd eat it raw. Then it was art week at school and they were all told to choose an art project. Roe found a field mouse skeleton and wanted to put it back together. This was the last straw in her weird behaviour and the school called her parents in.

"Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, your oldest daughter has made quite the negative impact. Bringing in dead animals, eating raw meat as if it was nothing and even asking to take the class pet home after it died! This antisocial behaviour can not be tolerated any longer. I demand you send your child to a psychiatrist or something so she'll stop... stop acting... feral!" the principal demanded.

Roe was sitting outside the office but her wolf hearing heard every word. Was she really that weird? She didn't want to be weird. Hailey was sitting beside her and looking up at Roe with curiosity. A tear slid down her face and was followed by another and another and another until she was full-out crying.

* * *

During dinner that night, Dick proposed a hunting trip that weekend. Usually, Roe would be the first to agree but she just sat back and played with her food. Her parents began asking her what was wrong and asking if it had something to do with school. Roe just jumped off her chair and ran to her room.

She hid under her bed with her toy robin and looked at every book she had with a wolf in it. The wolf was always the antagonist. Always. No exception. Roe let herself cry and she curled up. Zatanna came in to see her daughter crying under her bed. She walked over and got on the floor beside her.

"Hey, what's wrong? Sweetie?" she asked in a gentle voice.

"Mommy... why's the wolf always the bad guy? And why's being a Wolf Child so horrible?" Roe wept.

Zatanna pulled her oldest daughter out from under her bed and hugged her. It hurt her to see her child, her baby, be so ashamed of who she was.

"It's okay, Robyn, it'll be fine. You're just unique and people tend to not understand those who are wonderfully different," said Zatanna and she kissed the top of her child's head.

"Mommy... I don't want to be different. I want to be normal," said Roe "Is my hair too untamed? Can I have it cut?"

Zatanna looked down at her daughter and began to laugh.

"Roe, why do you want to be something you're not?" she asked.

"Don't laugh! I'm in the middle of a crisis!" Roe pouted.

"If it means that much to you," said Zatanna and her daughter looked up at her with curiosity.

That night, Zatanna altered Roe's clothes to make her a brand new outfit. A yellow hoodie with red sleeves and a black interior, black shorts and a red short-sleeved t-shirt with 'Robyn G.' sawn in black over her heart. Roe was so excited she watched Zatanna place every stitch. She also threw away all dead animal things she had and got rid of her chew toys. Zatanna took some scissors and a brush and fixed the craziness that was her daughter's hair.

* * *

_...The next morning..._

Roe held Hailey's hand as they walked into the schoolyard. Roe's friends instantly ran to her and said they liked her new hoodie. Roe's hair wasn't considerably shorter, the ends were just trimmed and done in two plaits with her fringe still in her face. Hailey was left alone when Roe was taken away by her friends. She walked over to the jungle gym, jumped up and took hold of the monkey bars. Some teachers watched as Hailey crossed her legs in midair and swung across the bars.

"Quite the athlete," said one of the teachers.

"Just like her sister," said the other teacher.

Hailey uncrossed her legs and pulled herself up. She lifted her legs up between the bars and pulled herself up to be standing on her hands against the bar.

"Hailey Grayson, stop that!" a teacher called.

Hailey threaded herself back through the bars to be hanging from the bars again. Most 5-year-old's couldn't even pull themselves up but Hailey's wolf ancestry gave her extraordinary strength like how it gave Roe extraordinary speed. The bell rang and Hailey dropped to the ground to go to Mrs. Gordon-Young's class.

* * *

Unlike her sister, Hailey wasn't in the middle of denying her wolf ancestry so acted strange too but she was less shy so it showed more. At this time they were learning to read and the class was taking turns reading a fairytale. Mrs. Gordon-Young rolled over to Hailey and began to help her begin.

"On-ce u-pon a ti-me, th-ere wa-s a lit-tle gir-l wh-oo w-o-re a vel-vet red h-o-o-d, hood, so sh-e wa-s call-ed Lit-tle Red Rid-ing, Riding, H-ood," Hailey began.

"Well done, Hailey," said Mrs. Gordon-Young "Who would like to read the next page?"

A girl called Poppy Batson put her hand up but a Latino boy called Isaac Reyes was chosen. Isaac stood up with his copy of Little Red Riding Hood and began reading.

"One d-ay, Little Red Riding Hood's m-oth-er a-sk-ed her to t-a-ke, take, a bas-ket to her gr-and-mo-th-er on the oth-er si-de, side, of the f-o-r-rest," he read.

"Very good, Isaac. Poppy, would you like to continue?" Mrs. Gordon-Young asked.

Poppy jumped to her feet to read.

"Little Red Riding Hood wal-ked thr-ou-gh..."

"Through," the substitute teaching assistant said.

"...through the f-or-es-st but she d-id-n-t re-al-ize she wa-s be-in-g wa-t-ched," Poppy finished the page.

Hailey listened as she heard the story of Little Red Riding Hood. She looked down at the illustration of the Big Bad Wolf about to eat the grandmother and tears began to form. Roe was right. The wolf was always the bad guy...

Hailey let out a cry and ran out of the room. She ran through the corridors, outside, past Roe's 3rd grade class and up a tree. She clung to a branch and cried.

* * *

To say the least, Zatanna was surprised to get a call from her children's school about Hailey being **"****up a tree"**. When she got there, there was a crowd of students and teachers. The janitor was up a ladder and trying to pry Hailey from the branch but she'd scream every time he tried.

"I can get her down!" Zatanna heard Roe shout.

"Mrs. Grayson, thank goodness' you're here. Hailey won't come down," said Mrs. Gordon-Young "Roe insists she can get her down but it's too dangerous to let her climb a tree,"

Roe rolled her eyes and went to the tree trunk. Despite protests, she jumped up and clawed her way up. Wolves usually can't climb trees but Wolf Children are exceptionally good at climbing because of their human physiology. Zatanna got the janitor off the ladder and climbed up herself.

"Hailey?" she said, putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder "Sweetie? What's wrong?"

Roe came to the branch her sister was on and climbed on. Hailey sniffed and looked at her mother.

"Why does the wolf always have to be the bad guy?" she asked and she threw her arms around her mother.

Zatanna began gently comforting Hailey like she did when she was a baby and Roe put her hand on her little sister's shoulder. Their mother took both of them in her arms and climbed down the ladder. Zatanna put Roe on the ground and continued to comfort Hailey.

Zatanna took Hailey home and she never went back to school.


	20. Chapter 19: Help Wanted

Three Wolves and One Human 

Chapter 19:

Help Wanted

_...3 years later..._

Dick and Zatanna looked at their bills and sighed. It was expensive to get electricity and gas all the way out there. The solar panels were useless since it was a rainy Summer filled with storms. The stream they got their water from had flooded so it was too much for the irrigation system that brought it to the house. This meant they had to go get water from the well and use their emergency supply. On top of this, leaks were turning up in the roof and they had to replace it and a tree branch was blown into a window and they had to replace that too.

"What can we do? The bills are piling up and my wages barely cover the cost of all the repairs," Dick said, laying back in boredom.

Zatanna lay down next to him so her head was beside his and she put a bill over her eyes.

"What are we going to do?" she asked as the doors and windows rattled from the wind.

"We need help," Dick said, wiping his hands over his face "We could get a loan from the bank but we'd never be able to pay them back,"

"I don't believe in bank loans for the _reason_ that we may never be able to pay it back," Zatanna said, looking at the ceiling "We could sell some of our produce,"

"Garden's flooded," Dick said "It's like the universe is messing with us,"

They thought about it and groaned in irritation.

"What about Hailey? I'm not going to force her to go to school," Zatanna said and she lazily lay her arm over Dick's face "Ooh! What if I get a job?"

"What about our youngest daughter?" Dick asked, pushing her arm off his face.

"I'll find a job where they'll let me take her with me _and_ you just paint houses for a living as a free agent so you can take her with you," said his wife and she sat up.

Dick sat up too and they turned to look at each other.

"It's the best plan we've got," he said.

* * *

_...The next day..._

Zatanna rode into town with Hailey standing on the back of the seat. They were looking for a job. Zatanna was in the library, writing up her resumé to print off and give to prospective employers. Hailey was exploring while her mother worked on finding a job.

** Name: Zatanna Grayson.**

**DoB: 9th of August, 2000.**

**Education: St. Helen's Catholic School for Girls from 2003-2018, University of New York from 2018-2022 but left before finishing final year.**

**Work Experience: Part-time job at Maybelle's 24-Hour Dry Cleaners from 2018-2022.**

Zatanna finished off her resumé and hit print. She decided to make three copies incase one of the possible employers wanted to keep it. She picked the copies up at the desk and turned to look for Hailey. Zatanna found a pile of wolf books in the kid's section but didn't find her daughter.

After looking around for a while, she found Hailey staring at the notice board as if in a trance. Zatanna knelt down beside her and looked at what her youngest child was looking at. A Help Wanted poster for the local animal reserve: Logan's Animal Sanctuary. It belonged to Megan's half-brother, Garfield Logan, who inherited it when Megan's mother, Marie Logan, passed away.

"What's wrong, Hailey?" Zatanna gently asked, nudging her to get her attention.

Hailey pointed at the animal pictures on the Help Wanted poster.

"The wolf," she said.

Zatanna looked to see picture of a grey wolf. She looked back at her daughter in wonder and took a number from the bottom of the poster.

"How 'bout I try to get a job there?" she asked.

Hailey nodded and they left to make the call outside since cellphones weren't allowed in the library. Within a yew minutes, Zatanna had a job interview.

* * *

"So, Zatanna, it says here you left school early. Why?" Garfield asked, looking at her resumé.

Zatanna and Hailey sat on the other end of the conference room table, listening to him talk. Hailey was looking down into space while her mother sat up, paying attention to her possible future boss.

"Well, I got married to my husband when I was 20. When I was 21, I discovered I was pregnant. My daughter, Roe, was born when I was 22 so I left school and work to take care of her," Zatanna explained.

Garfield looked over her resumé before looking up at her.

"Do you have a criminal record?" he asked.

"Nope," Zatanna said.

Garfield went over several files and Hailey began looking around the room. On the wall was a framed photo of a boy, about 3, and a girl, about 1, with Garfield and a blonde woman. Under the photo was a plaque only dated a few months ago.

"That's my family," said Garfield, looking up from the papers "Me, my wife, Tara Markov-Logan, my son, Remy Logan, and my daughter, Marie Logan the 2nd,"

"I didn't know Kurt and Karen Marie had cousins," said Zatanna, looking back at him.

"Well... I'm going to be honest with you. We do need an assistant or we wouldn't have posted that ad but... we keep this place alive on a shoestring budget," explained Garfield "We can cover the cost of your training but a high schooler with a part-time job would make more than you. Knowing that, do you still want the job? We will allow you to bring Hailey with you everyday,"

Zatanna looked down at Hailey and remembered what got her attention to the ad.

"I... heard you're caring for a wolf? Could we please see it?" she asked, confusing him.

* * *

They stood on the other side of the bars and looked in on the wolf. This was the first time Hailey had seen a wolf outside of her family. Garfield's wife, Tara, said he was needed and he had to leave them for a minute. Hailey stepped forward to the bars and turned half-wolf. The other wolf looked up at her and walked over. It sniffed her through the bars before walking away and laying down.

"He's sad, Mom," Hailey said, turning back to human.

Zatanna looked at her in concern when Garfield came back in.

"He was a pet. Guess his owner was rich enough to bend the rules," he explained "When he died, no one would take him so he's in our rehab program and will hopefully be able to live a better life,"

Zatanna looked down to see Hailey looking rather disappointed. She knelt down and wrapped her arms around her youngest daughter.

* * *

On the way home, Hailey was quiet. Zatanna was panting as she rode up the hill but she noticed Hailey's sad mood.

"I'll *pant*pant* be *gasp* going there *gasp* a *pant* lot," she said, gasping in breath "I'm *wheeze* gonna *gasp* learn *pant* as much *pant*gasp* about nat-nature..."

Zatanna came to a stop and leaned against the handlebars. Hailey looked at her mother as she gasped for breath and she jumped off the back of the bike. She walked around to the front of the bike and looked up at her. Zatanna looked up and smiled at her daughter.

"I'm going to learn as much about nature as I can. Then I'll teach it all to you," she said "You don't mind coming with me everyday, do you?"

Hailey shook her head and smiled back. Zatanna got off her bike and walked it along side them as they headed home.


	21. Chapter 20: History

**Btw, this is set in the future. Currently the year is 2032. I also want this chapter to be more about Hailey and Dick because, though Zatanna is the main character, you shouldn't neglect the supporting cast.**

* * *

Three Wolves and One Human 

Chapter 20:

History

Hailey walked along the river in the forest and looked into the flooded waters. She had the memory of being underwater in the back of her mind. It was cold and she couldn't get her head above the water. The currents were so fast. She was so scared. Hailey looked around and saw an arrow head just under the water by the riverbank.

It was time for lunch and her calls for her to come back hadn't worked so Zatanna went into the woods to find her youngest daughter. She thought Hailey had been disappointed by the wolf at the animal sanctuary.

"Hailey?!" Zatanna called "Hailey Sindella Grayson! Come here, it's time for lunch! Hailey!"

She walked along the river to see her child leaning out into it. Zatanna's heart pounded and she ran to her child. She yanked Hailey from the edge and pulled her into her arms. Hailey looked at her mother in confusion with the arrow head in her hands.

"Mom, what's wrong? I was just getting an arrow head from the river. Lookie!" Hailey said, showing her mother.

Zatanna took it and looked back at her youngest daughter. Hailey was happily inspecting her newfound treasure as her mother carried her home.

* * *

That night, Dick drilled a hole in the arrow head so the pointed end would point down. He helped Hailey thread a piece of leather through the hole and tie the ends to make a necklace. Hailey opened a book on American history and began searching to see if she could find out what tribe used the kind of arrow head she found.

"Daddy, I can't find it," she said, frowning.

"You know what? There's a Natural History Museum near by. It has an arrow head exhibit so we can see if we can find yours," said Dick "I don't have any jobs tomorrow. You want to go?"

Hailey looked at him and nodded with a smile on her face. Going out to learn was much more fun than sitting in a classroom. Roe came running in with her piggy bank and sat on the floor, ignoring them. She opened up her piggy bank and took several notes and a few coins out. She began counting her money. Roe groaned and stuffed the money back in her piggy bank.

"Not enough, Robyn?" Dick asked her.

Roe wanted to enter a skateboarding contest but the entrance fee was $50 bucks _and_ she had to buy skate gear that fell in contest regulations so that was another $20. Zatanna and Dick said they'd pay the entrance fee if she got the $20 dollars so Roe had been doing odd jobs around the house and did a friend's paper route for $5 bucks one morning.

"I have $14 dollars," Roe said "I need $6 dollars. Is there anything I can do?"

"I'll give you a dollar to put away the dishes," said Dick.

Roe got up and ran into the kitchen with her piggy bank under her arm. Hailey looked back at the book on American history and continued to do research.

* * *

_...The next morning..._

Dick and Hailey came to a stop outside of the museum and they headed inside. It was quiet since everyone was home due to rain. They went straight to the arrow head exhibit and began trying to find another matching arrow head. Hailey took her necklace off and held it up to every arrow head they saw. An archeologist came out of the back to see Hailey holding her necklace up to an arrow head display case.

"Excuse me, where did you get that arrow head?" she asked, walking over to them.

"Hey, you look like my sister-in-law, Cassie Sandsmark-Drake," said Dick.

"My daughter," said Dr. Sandsmark, leaning over to look at the arrow head "So, where'd you get it?"

"I found out in the river by our house," said Hailey "We're trying to find the tribe it comes from,"

Dr. Sandsmark looked at it.

"I think I know," she said "Come with me," and she walked through a door the public weren't allowed through.

Dick and Hailey looked at each other and they followed her in.

* * *

It was a storage room of unused exhibits. Dr. Sandsmark asked to see Hailey's arrow head and she looked at it through a magnifier glass. She took another arrow head out of a box and put it besides Hailey's.

"If your daughter is married to my uncle, what does that make you to me?" Hailey asked.

"Aunt Cassie is your adoptive paternal aunt-by-marriage so Dr. Sandsmark is..." Dick thought about it "Your great-aunt? Nah, that's not it... hmm... your adoptive paternal aunt-in-law-by-marriage? I don't know,"

Hailey tried to climb onto a stool and Dr. Sandsmark helped her up to look at the two arrow heads. Dr. Sandsmark showed her how the two arrow heads may have looked different but they had the same basic design. This meant they had been made by people who knew the same techniques.

"So, where does my arrow head come from?" Hailey asked "I wanna know!"

"For the past few months, I've suspected an undiscovered tribe used to live in this area," said Dr. Sandsmark, taking a field journal out and showing them "I call it, the Lupus tribe,"

"That's Latin for wolf," said Hailey "I read it in my Big Book of Animals,"

"That's right," said Dr. Sandsmark, smiling "From what I can tell, the Lupus tribe had an obsession with wolves. I found cave paintings depicting a great battle and the people of the Lupus tribe actually changing into wolves. I have photos, would you like to see?"

Dick was shocked. A tribe of their species? Proof of their species? His mother did say a group of their people left Romania to come to America centuries ago (including his own several-times-great-grandmother). Dr. Sandsmark showed them a photo of the cave paintings depicting men and women with the heads of wolves standing amongst actual wolves that wore, what looked like, ripped clothing. Hailey was fascinated by the photos and Dr. Sandsmark gave her copies.

* * *

That night, Hailey put the photos up on the pinboard by her bed and smiled at them. She took her arrow head necklace off and hung it on her bedpost before sitting down. She got under the covers, turned on her nightlight and turned off her lamp. Hailey smiled and fell asleep, thinking of the Lupus tribe.


	22. Chapter 21: Heritage (ouch!)

**Crina is pronounced cr-in-a.**

**Lupei is a Romanian surname that means "wolf".**

**Cãtãlin is pronounced cut-uh-leen.**

**Albu is a Romanian surname that means "white".**

* * *

Three Wolves and One Human 

Chapter 21:

Heritage (ouch!)

_...The next day..._

"So, Crina Lupei was my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother?" Hailey said, looking at the family tree spread out across the floor "And she was a wolf like us?"

"Yep. She came from Romania to start a new life here," said Dick "Your great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Crina's husband, was also a member of the Lupus tribe. His name was Cãtãlin Albu and he was a white wolf,"

Dick had looked through a box of his family's things and found a family tree with a family history.

"It says Crina's married name was Crina Albu-Lupei," said Hailey "So, if Lupei means wolf and Albu means white then her surname meant white-wolf! Cool!"

Zatanna smiled from the sofa as Hailey learned about her family history. Roe had a Summer project to make a family tree so she probably should have been listening to this but she didn't seem to even _acknowledge_ being a wolf anymore.

"You think Crina or Cãtãlin made this arrow head?" Hailey asked, looking at her necklace.

"Maybe," said Dick "Seems we returned to our ancestral home by moving here,"

Hailey smiled and took some paper from a draw. She took a tin of pencils and walked back over. She dropped the stationary and sat down by her father again.

"Let's make a family tree!" Hailey said.

Roe walked into the room with her homework folder. She walked over to her mother on the sofa and Zatanna looked up from her book.

"Hey, Mom, I need help drawing a family tree. Can you help?" Roe asked "I keep drawing the branches to big or wobbly,"

Hailey and Roe sat next to each other as they worked on family trees. Roe did it as neat as possible with a ruler while Hailey wrote names and scribbled lines between them. Hailey drew wolves for pictures and Roe carefully cut pictures out. The family trees were completely different despite having the same relatives on them.

* * *

Hailey turned wolf after lunch and ran off into the woods. Dick was fixing things broken by the last storm. Zatanna was doing some knitting while she sat on the sofa and she lowered it to think of her life so far. When she was 18 and had just started college, she never thought her family life would be like this. Roe came walking in after finishing her book and sat down next to Zatanna.

"Mom, can you tell me about _your_ side of the family?" Roe asked "Your Italian which is why you taught me and Hailey but what else?"

Zatanna put her knitting aside and sat up.

"Well, as you know, my father is Giovanni Zatara and my mother was Sindella but she passed away when I was young," she said "I have an uncle, aunt and cousin on my father's side. My cousin, Zachary, and I used to collect seashells on the beach when we were young,"

"I've never met your dad, Mom," said Roe "How come?"

"You did meet him... once... when you were just born. You were still changing into a wolf at random times so you were bundled up. He thought you were adorable. I think... I might have a picture," said Zatanna.

They looked into Roe's baby book for the first time and found the picture of Giovanni holding her. Zatanna was 22 at the time and Giovanni seemed a bit old to be her father. He was dressed somewhat formally and held Baby Roe in one arm with his other hand over her.

"Can we meet him? Me and Hailey have control of the change now," Roe asked.

"I'd love you to meet him but flights from Rome are too expensive for either of us to afford," said Zatanna, sadly "I haven't even gotten a letter from him in 6 years, not since we moved from New York,"

"You should write to him, Mom," said Roe "I think it'd make you happy,"

Zatanna smiled at her oldest daughter and continued to tell her about her Italian heritage. Roe and Hailey may have been raised in America but they weren't Americans. With Dick being Romanian and Zatanna being Italian, the Grayson sisters were Italian-Romanian and spoke both their parents' native languages.

* * *

When Hailey returned, Zatanna and Roe were playing an Italian lawn game called bocce. Zatanna said she and Dick spent their honeymoon staying with Zatanna's Italian relatives in Rome and playing bocce on the beach. Roe asked Hailey if she wanted to play but she said no and went to play with the Lego dollhouse she had made.

"Why's she so obsessed with Dad's side of the family and not yours, Mom?" Roe asked.

"Hailey's just young, sweetie," said Zatanna "Now, let's play bocce! Two out of three!"

Roe smiled and set up her next shot. Dick looked down from where he sat on the roof, repairing leaks. He had a sad smile on his face. They moved to the country so the girls could be free to pick their own paths. Now that they were spreading their wings... it was a lot to think his 10-year-old and 7-year-old pups had already picked their way. Then came the creaking and the roof suddenly collapsed, landing him in the utility room.

"Dick!" Zatanna shrieked in fear.

Dick sat up only to fall back again. Zatanna came running in and fell to her knees beside him. He had a gash by his eye, his arm was bending the wrong way and his legs weren't even moving.

"Call an ambulance," he croaked, his unbroken arm around his torso as he leaned back again "I think I smashed my tailbone... ow,"

* * *

Dick lay in hospital after some minor surgeries to put in place some bones. He'd broken both legs, his left arm, had a concussion along with the gash above his left eye, broken his tailbone and cracked/bruised his ribs. In short, falling through the roof hurts... a _lot._

"Daddy!" Hailey exclaimed as his family entered the room.

"Hey, girls, hope you weren't scared," Dick said, his voice tired.

Zatanna leaned down and kissed his forehead. Roe put a small vase of asters on the bedside table and put a get-well soon card made by Hailey next to it.

"How much does it hurt? Mom cried when the doctor told her what your injuries were," Hailey asked, climbing up and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Not very much anymore," said Dick "They gave me pain medication but my ribs still ache a bit,"

Zatanna frowned and gently put her hand on his chest to feel him breathe. There was a creak from his ribs and she pulled her hand away. It was going to take a while for him to completely heal but she was willing to put in the time needed.

* * *

** What can I say? I needed to add Hurt!Dick in this story at some point!**


	23. Chapter 22: Control

** I'm reaching the climax but don't worry! There's plenty of story left! I'm just returning to some of the plot from Wolf Children.**

**Parker Hyde is Kaldur and Raquel's son. "Hyde" comes from Kaldur's alias in the comics: Jackson Hyde. Usually, I make him 2 years older than Roe (same age as Kurt) but I needed to reduce his age for this story.**

* * *

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 22:

Control

_...2 years later..._

Roe was sitting in her 7th grade classroom, looking out the window. Dick had nearly healed from the fall through the roof but had to go to physical therapy due to the damage to his legs. Hailey was spending time on the mountain or would go to work with Zatanna, leaving their house empty.

"Everyone!" the teacher announced "This is our new student, introduce yourself,"

"I'm Parker. Parker Hyde," he said.

Parker was African-American with shaggy blonde hair and big pointed brown eyes. He took the empty desk behind her and sat down. Roe had taken the style of rectangular-lensed glasses and a ponytail with two locks of hair hanging either side of her face. Her common outfit now was a pair of black cargo pants, a red long-sleeved t-shirt and a black short-sleeved hoodie with a yellow interior. Roe had a plaster on her cheek from a failed skate trick and she doodling down the physics of a possible stunt.

"Uh, excuse me?"

Roe stopped doodling and turned in her chair to look at him.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Do you... have dogs?" he asked.

"No... why?" Roe asked, gripping the back of her chair.

"You... sorta smell like you do," Parker said "Could have sworn you smell like you have a dog,"

Roe turned as red as her clothes and stood up, her chair scraping across the floor.

"Oh, yeah?!" she screamed "Well, you smell like fish guts!"

Everyone stared at her in shock. Normally, Roe was quiet except for her favourite subjects.

"My dad's an oceanographer... my house is basically an aquarium," Parker said, calmly.

Roe had tears in her eyes and she looked to see her entire class staring at her. She screwed her eyes shut and ran out, murmuring the chant:

"I'm gonna be a little girl, all the way home,"

* * *

Roe sat in the corner of the stairs, her glasses in her pocket as tears ran down her face. Her hood was up to hide her wolf ears that were floppy from sadness and her paw-like-hands were stuffed into her hoodie pockets. Her converse shoes were barely on her paw-like-feet and her tail was pointing upwards to hide between her back and hoodie. The bell rang for lunch and she reverted to human as the other students began flooding the halls.

Roe had her lunchbox beside her as she ate her lunch beneath a tree. She swallowed her sandwich and took a gulp of water from her canteen. Parker walked over to her and sat across from her. Without a word, he opened his aquatic themed lunchbox and began eating sushi with chopsticks. Roe looked at him and kept her head down. She stuffed the last of her food in her mouth and washed it down with water before getting up and walking away from him.

Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she walked away and put her lunchbox in her bag. She needed some air.

"Hey, Bow, Joe, Po, what's your name again?" came Parker's voice.

"Roe! Short for Robyn!" Roe shouted.

"Well, Roe, stop! I want to talk to you!" Parker called.

Roe just ran away from him, tapping her heart and repeating the chant to keep her wolf inside.

* * *

Parker chased her as she ran through the school. Roe ran outside into the school garden and tried to get back inside but the other door was locked. She turned away from him and faced the wall. Parker caught up to her and panted.

"It's *pant*gasp* true what *wheeze* everyone *gasp* says..." he stammered then took a deep gulp "You really are the fastest in the school. I've only ever seen a wolf run that fast,"

Roe gritted her teeth at that and turned around.

"Why are you avoiding me? Do you hate me because I'm the new kid?" Parker asked.

Roe tried to run past him but he grabbed her shoulder and they struggled.

"Let go, Parker!" she exclaimed.

"Not until we talk! My parents always told me to talk out my problems!" Parker answered.

They turned and Roe let go, leaning against the wall. Her heart was racing and she just needed to go calm down but Parker was determined to clear everything up between them. She clenched her fist and it began to change into a paw.

It happened so fast. One moment, Parker was trying to make peace between them. The next, he was on the ground and holding his ear. Roe was panting and had turned half-wolf. Her left paw-like-hand dripped with blood and she gulped.

* * *

Zatanna was working at her desk in the animal reserve when she got the call her daughter was in a fight. Hailey was with Dick at the recovery center while he had physical therapy so she was free to go. In the principal's office, Zatanna found Roe hunched over in a chair, a boy with a bandage around his head and a woman that was presumebly the boy's mother.

"Mrs. Grayson," said the principal "So sorry to call you with this at work,"

"When I got here, my son's head was covered in blood," said the woman.

"No it wasn't, Mom," he said.

Zatanna went over to Roe and knelt down beside her. Roe's hair was out of its ponytail and in her face.

"Robyn, did you hurt this boy?" she asked.

Roe looked away from her. Mrs. Ervin-Hyde had her hand on Parker's shoulder as he stared into space.

"Apologize, now," Zatanna said in a serious tone "I'm not asking,"

Roe got out of her chair, looked down at her shoes and Parker looked at her.

"I'm... sorry," she whispered.

"You expect me to drop it after that flimsy apology?" Mrs. Ervin-Hyde said "If Parker doesn't recover his hearing, I'll take you to court for everything you've got,"

"Mrs. Ervin-Hyde, I'm sure that's not necessary," said the principal "The school's insurance will cover any medical expenses,"

"Don't defend them! My child is the one with an injury!" she shouted.

The adults began to argue when Parker spoke up.

"It was a wolf," he said "A wolf did it,"

Zatanna's eyes widened and she froze. Her heart was going a thousand-miles an hour but she felt like it had stopped. She steadily turned to Roe, who had pulled her hood up over her head.

"Parker? What are you talking about? A-A wolf?" Mrs. Ervin-Hyde stammered.

* * *

Roe and Zatanna sat silently in the car, still in the parking lot. Zatanna's worst fear was realized. Someone had seen her Wolf Children. Roe let out a cry and began to sob.

"I'm sorry, Mom, I tried... I kept saying the chant but... I'm sorry, Mommy," she cried, fogging up her glasses.

Zatanna looked at her oldest daughter and hugged her as Roe cried. She comfortingly rubbed her shoulders and her daughter let it all out.


	24. Chapter 23: Vixon

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 23:

Vixon

Roe was suspended since no one believed a wolf attacked Parker and she began spending her time listening to a radio mystery series. She became the one to feed the family's two chickens that they got for the eggs. For the previous Christmas, Dick and Zatanna had fulfilled their daughters wishes to have pets so they bought bunnies. You shouldn't normally get pets for Christmas but Dick and Zatanna had decided to get pets in August but held out 'til December. The bunnies, Syrup and Sugar, were adorable with floppy ears. Syrup was yellow with brown spots and Sugar was white with black spots. Anyway, Roe was the one to take care of Syrup and Sugar during the day. They had a low fence to keep the bunnies in one place.

"Having fun, Roe?" Dick said, walking over with his crutches.

"Yeah. Hey, can you get their food from the kitchen side?" Roe asked, stroking Syrup on her lap.

Dick nodded and went over to the kitchen. He put the bowl on the wooden floor and kicked it over to her. Roe took a pellet and gave it to Syrup to nibble. She put Syrup back in the fenced area and put the bowl in for them to eat lunch.

"Want me to help make lunch, Dad?" she offered and her father agreed.

Roe cut some cheese, put it between bread and put them in the grilled cheese machine that squished down the bread into perfect triangles. She and Dick toasted their sandwiches and began eating lunch.

* * *

When Zatanna and Hailey returned home in the car, they saw Parker run off after leaving some paper on their doorstep. Zatanna picked it up and saw Roe's name on the top of the sheets. She walked inside to see Syrup and Sugar hopping around their rabbit run. Hailey went to play with them and Zatanna went over to Roe's room.

"Roe? You in there?" she called, knocking on the door.

There was a shuffling and Zatanna entered her oldest daughter's bedroom. Roe was watching a film on the portable DVD player on her bed. She paused it and looked at her mother.

"Homework," said Zatanna, holding up the papers "From Parker,"

Roe hid under her blanket and curled up. Zatanna left the homework on her bedside table and walked out. Hailey walked past her with her hands in her pockets.

"Headin' out," she said.

"And where are you going?" Zatanna asked.

Hailey stopped and turned to her mother with her hands in her pockets.

"To see Vixon. She teaches me... to be a wolf... in ways Dad can't," she said before turning wolf and running out of the house.

Zatanna watched her run off and she wondered who Vixon was. Did she know Hailey's Wolf Child secret? No, Hailey knew never to tell anyone even if she trusted them. Dick came walking in and slumped down onto the sofa. Zatanna sat down next to him and they cuddled up together. They both relaxed and listened to the sounds of nature.

* * *

_...The next day..._

With a day off, Zatanna stayed home with her family. Dick steadily rotated his ankle and it clicked several times. His physical therapist said to do this until the clicking stopped once in the morning and once in the night. They were having a barbecue for lunch but Hailey was nowhere to be seen. A black wolf with a grey belly and long black hair with ribbons in her hair walked out of the forest and put a dead rabbit by her mother's feet before turning human once more.

"Vixon caught this for us," she said and she walked off.

Hailey hadn't given up her love of having ribbons in her hair. Currently, she had two. The top layer of her hair was plaited with a ribbon at the top and a ribbon at the bottom with a plait on either side of her head, leading to the main plait. Hailey liked having most of her hair free in contrast to Roe preferring her hair tied back with only a lock of hair free on either side of her head. Roe was doing the homework Parker had brought over.

"Grub's up!" Zatanna called and her family took their burgers.

They sat down on the foundation to eat and Hailey began talking about Vixon. Roe seemed bored of hearing about Vixon and Zatanna looked at how happy Hailey was.

"I'm surprised you get along with someone so much older," said Dick.

"Well, Vixon's been up the mountain for a long time. Unlike the other animals, she doesn't come down a lot," said Hailey, not noticing her family staring at her "She used to live here before the town council forced her out," she looked up at her parents and became confused by their stunned faces "You can meet her if you want,"

* * *

They walked through the forest with Dick as a wolf (it's easier to walk as a wolf with a limp than a human with a limp). Roe was dragged into going and stuffed her hands in her pockets as they followed Hailey. The Grayson family came to a stone area with a cave. An elderly fox was laying in the opening of the cave and it looked up at them.

"That's Vixon," said Hailey, pointing at her "She's my teacher,"

Vixon walked forward to them and Hailey turned wolf.

"Thank you for teaching our daughter what we can't," Zatanna said, holding onto Dick's hand.

Vixon looked to Hailey and back at them. She stepped forward and sniffed around Roe. Roe remained still until Vixon ran off. Hailey reverted to human and returned home with her family.


	25. Chap 24: Making Peace & Starting Fights

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 24:

Making Peace and Starting Fights

Parker came to leave Roe things everyday. After a few weeks, Roe wasn't home (she was at Irey West's house) and Zatanna invited him in for some lemonade. Dick was sitting at the table with them. Zatanna put her cup down and looked at Parker.

"Thanks for the lemonade, Mr. and Mrs. Grayson," said Parker.

"It's the least we could do since you come so far everyday," said Dick.

"I just don't want Roe to stop coming to school," he said.

"So, Parker, I remember in the principal's office you said a wolf attacked you," Zatanna said.

"I know it's crazy. It all happened in a flash... I saw the wolf for just a second," Parker said, rubbing the back of his neck "It's not fare Roe got the blame,"

"Tell me, Parker, do you hate wolves now?" Dick asked, holding his wife's hand over the table.

Parker looked at them and took a sip of lemonade.

"Nah, I think they're pretty cool," he said, leaning back in his chair.

Dick and Zatanna looked at one another before looking back at him.

"Yeah, me too," said Dick "My entire family are wolf crazy,"

* * *

_...A few days later..._

Roe nervously walked in the direction of the bus stop. Her first time back to school in nearly 5 weeks. Parker was waiting at the bus stop for her. Roe awkwardly stood next to him until he tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, you wanna see my ear?" he asked.

Without an answer, Parker pulled the padding that was covering his ear off and Roe flinched at the sound.

"D-Does it hurt?" she asked.

"It iches," said Parker, putting his fingers to it "You wanna touch it?"

Reluctantly, Roe reached up and Parker guided her hand by taking hold of her wrist. His ear had a few scarred patches and it was a bit rough around the edges but it was healed. Roe tried to pull her hand away but Parker held tight and seemed to be trying to examine her fingers. She pulled it from his grip and put her hands in her pockets as the bus pulled up.

* * *

_...A few weeks later..._

Roe sat at the table as she did her homework. Hailey was sitting across from her and going on about her day with Vixon. Their parents were washing/drying the dishes in the kitchen.

"You should get Vixon to teach you stuff too, Roe, your hunting will get way better, mine did," said Hailey, taking a chip from the bowl of potato chips between them.

"I don't want to," hissed Roe, scribbling down the answer to a math question.

"Huh, why? I can find water, tell what the clouds mean and I can read the terrain better. Why wouldn't you want to know that?" Hailey asked, confused.

"If you want to learn, try going back to school," Roe said through gritted teeth.

Hailey went from confusion to silent rage and sat back in her chair.

"No thanks," she said.

"And why not?" her older sister growled.

"Because I'm a wolf," Hailey stated.

"You are a human!" Roe insisted, getting to her feet.

"No, I'm not," the younger sister denied.

Roe sat back down and wrote the date on the top of her worksheet. She had an irritated look on her face.

"I've decided I'm better off living as a human," she said.

Hailey snorted.

"Don't kid yourself," she snickered "You know what you are! You're a wolf! Quit denying that part of yourself!"

They both stood up, leaned against the table and growled at each other.

"You're going to school tomorrow!" Roe exclaimed.

"No way, sis," Hailey snarled.

They turned half-wolf and their claws sunk into the table top. In a fit of wolf anger, Hailey flipped the table onto its side and Roe fell to the ground. The older sister looked over the edge of the table at her younger sister and their eyes turned wolf (which was unusual since they usually remained human-ish).

"You wanna fight?" Roe growled.

Hailey responded by getting down on all fours and snarling. Dick and Zatanna heard the ruckus and slid aside the doors that separated the kitchen and living room. Roe and Hailey snapped their jaws and tried to sink their claws into one another.

"Girls, stop fighting!" Zatanna exclaimed, trying to get between them but Dick pulled her back.

"Don't, they're acting on instinct. It's dangerous," he said.

"They're _my_ **babies**! I don't care!" his wife yelled at him.

Hailey kicked Roe off of her and pounced. Roe tried rolling to gain the advantage but they hit the T.V in the corner of the room. They continually snarled at each other and Roe kicked Hailey into the sofa. The sofa slid and broke in the middle. Hailey's claws sunk into the leather and ripped it as she jumped off. Roe got to her feet and her little sister pushed her through the closed sliding door and they ended up outside. The sounds of the night accompanied the sound of the Grayson sisters trying to tear each other apart.

"Dick! Stop them! This is going too far!" Zatanna shrieked in fear.

Dick jumped down from the foundation, grabbed the back of his daughters' t-shirts and lifted them both up. He held them apart but they kept reaching over to claw at each other. Finally, they stopped and began panting. Dick carried them both back inside.

Dick and Zatanna sat their daughters on the sofa only for it to give way underneath them. At this, instead of a scolding, Dick told his children to go to bed. They obliged but yelled "This is your fault" at each other before slamming their doors. Zatanna looked around at the destruction of their home. Each time they had hit the wall, pictures had fallen down and smashed. She picked up a family photo taken shortly after moving to the country. Hailey was so small, sitting in the baby harness on Zatanna's front, and Roe was so energetic, sitting on Dick's shoulders. Tears began to fall and Dick pulled his wife in his arms.

* * *

**I didn't intend for this chapter to have these plot elements but I moved some things around because I didn't like the original Chapter 24. The original Chapter 24 is the opening of Chapter 25!**


	26. Chapter 25: The Beginning of the Storm

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 25:

The Beginning of the Storm

_...1 year later..._

**"Storm clouds are coming in from the East so don't be fooled by the temperature, we're in for another big one this afternoon," **said the radio host.

Zatanna turned the radio off where it sat on the windowsill as she scrubbed the dishes that morning. Dick walked up from behind and wrapped his arms around her. Zatanna giggled like when they were first dating and turned around to face him. There had been a series of record storms and Hailey was scared for the animals that called the mountain their home. Zatanna wrapped her arms around Dick's shoulders and began feeling like a college student again.

"I'm off to school!" Roe called through the house, running to the door "Man, it's humid,"

Roe was wearing a yellow short-sleeved t-shirt and black cargo shorts that went down to her knees. Because it was going to rain again, she had a hooded sweater tied around her waist for when it got cold. Roe jumped down the step and put on a pair of flipflops with yellow souls and red straps. Hailey walked up to her, wearing a lavender sundress and white shirt-sleeved t-shirt underneath, and Roe looked up at her little sister.

"Roe, don't go to school today. Stay home with Mom and Dad," Hailey said, rather seriously.

Roe raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, why?" she asked "To quote what my creative writing teacher always tells me: I'm going to need more detail,"

Zatanna walked over to the door before Hailey could answer.

"The bus won't wait, Roe," she said to her oldest daughter.

"'Kay, Mom," said Roe "Why don't _you_ keep them company, Hailey?" and she ran down the road.

Hailey watched her sister run off and meet up with Lillianna Young (Irey West was a year older so she and her twin brother, Jai West, were now 14 and in high school). Karen Marie ran up to them and they walked back down together. They were 13 now and Hailey was 10. Hailey occasionally ran into old classmates since she went with her mother to work and Garfield was friends with her old classmates' parents (like Isaac Rayes' father, Jaime Rayes).

"Hey, you okay, sweetie?" Zatanna asked her.

Hailey shrugged and kicked some pebbles before heading on her way towards the chicken coop. The old tilting building had been converted into a barn for the two chickens, the rooster that fertilized some eggs so they wouldn't have to buy new chickens, the six chicks, Syrup and Sugar. Hailey went over to the feed and sprinkled some for the birds then put the bowls of pellets in the hutch for Syrup and Sugar. Their hutch had dog flaps so they could enter and leave at will and the surrounding area was fenced off for them.

"Hey, you guys," Hailey said "I wish I could have been born an animal like you and be free,"

She sat down on the ground beside the bunnies and sighed. She could tell something was in the air and it wasn't good.

* * *

_...That afternoon..._

Roe looked out the window as rain poured down. She wasn't really listening to her teacher so it was a good thing Parker woke her from her daydream.

"We're being let out early 'cause of the storm," he said "C'mon, we're going to the gym to wait for our parents,"

Roe followed him to the gym where the entire school sat on the floor, waiting for their parents to arrive. Roe took a deck of cards from her bag and they began playing Go-Fish with some of the other students. After getting sick of Go-Fish, Parker went to get the Uno pack from the classroom.

* * *

Hailey walked back into the house, soaking wet, with a sad expression. Zatanna had just gotten the call to pick Roe up. She was putting her coat on when she saw Hailey in the doorway.

"Hailey? What's wrong?" she asked her youngest daughter.

"Vixon's cave collapsed on her... she's dead," said Hailey, seriously "Someone needs to take her place as the protector of the mountain,"

Zatanna gasped and took hold of Hailey's narrow shoulders.

"Hailey Sindella Grayson," she said, scared for her child "Don't even think about it! You're barely 10-years-old, that's adult for a wolf but that's different! You're _not_ a wolf, you're a little girl!"

Hailey looked up at her mother in shock. Zatanna had never labelled her as a single species before. Zatanna let go of her daughter and clasped her hands together as they shook.

"Well! I'm no human!" Hailey shouted "Humans are weak, like _you_! I'M A WOLF!"

She turned around, changed into a wolf and ran off into the woods. Zatanna ran after her but she was out of sight.

"HAILEY!" she shouted, acting hysterical.

Dick pulled her inside and calmed her.

"Zatanna, we have two daughters. You go pick up our oldest and I'll find our youngest," he said and she nodded.

Dick turned wolf and ran after their youngest Wolf Child. Zatanna pulled her boots on and dashed to the car.

* * *

It had been a while and Parker hadn't come back. Worried, Roe went off to find him. He was sitting at his desk, seemingly asleep, and she shook his shoulder. Parker woke with a start and stared up at her.

"I was really asleep for that long?" he asked after Roe had explained.

"Yeah, you seem exhausted," Roe said.

"It's my brother, Christopher, he's only 1 but he sure can wail," Parker said, yawning.

Roe smiled and walked over to the window. She held her backpack over her shoulder and looked out at the flooded parking lot. She sighed and dropped her bag on the floor.

"I'm sick of pretending to be something I'm not," Roe said "I've pretended to be this false self to fit in but... fitting in isn't worth it if I'm not happy. I've tried to be normal but, by doing so, I've driven my sister away. Hailey embraces the other half but I deny it... I'm done with denying who I am,"

Parker got up and watched in awe as she pulled her hair out and opened the window so the wind blew the curtains around.

"Parker... do you remember... the day the wolf attacked?" Roe asked, looking out the window.

"How could I forget?" Parker asked.

"Well..." she murmured.

Parker gasped as he watched two wolf ears grow from her head and her nose grow into a different shape to resemble a wolf's. A black tail poked out of the top of her cargo shorts and her hands began to resemble paws with claws.

"It was me..." Roe admitted, tears in her eyes "I'm so sorry... When you said I smelled like a dog, it was like a wake-up call so, whenever you were around, it reminded me I was a wolf. When I clawed your ear, my wolf instincts had taken over... my kind's version of seeing red,"

Parker looked at her and smiled.

"I already knew," he said "I passed out later than I claimed. I saw you change back to human,"

"I already knew too,"

They turned to see Karen Marie and Lillianna in the doorway. Roe's tail and ears turned downwards in fear and she whimpered slightly.

"I saw you change behind your house but I hid round the corner. When you were utterly human, I pretended to have only just arrived," Karen Marie explained "It was about 6 months ago and I didn't know how to talk to you about it,"

"This is news to me but I'm cool with it," said Lillianna "Does this mean your entire family are werewolves too?"

"Werewolves is an offensive term! I'm half-human on my mom's side, Hailey too and my dad's a wolf-man. Because my mother's human and my father's a wolf, that makes me and Hailey; Wolf Children. My kind can change at any time and we don't go out of control usually... unless you're young and can't control your impulses," said Roe, her tail wagging "We left New York because my sister and I kept howling in a building where you're not allowed pets,"

They all laughed and Roe accidentally howled but she covered her mouth in embarrassment. They all chuckled and the door was opened.

"Robyn Mary Grayson! What... you're..."

They turned to see Roe's mother in the doorway. Zatanna was panting and soaking wet.

"Mom! It's okay," Roe said "Karen Marie and Parker already knew and Lillianna is cool with it,"

"It's... not that..." Zatanna panted "Hailey's missing! We need to get home and fast!"

Roe felt something snap within her and she let out an ear-piercing howl then pushed the desks against each other across the room. She panted, her claws clenched, and her eyes turning red in anger.

"Let us help!" Karen Marie said "Please, Mrs. Grayson? We can do this!"

Zatanna didn't have time to argue and all five of them headed out.

* * *

**The beginning of the end! "Storm" is a metaphor for the hell about to come down, not just because of the storm.  
**


	27. Chapter 26: The Eye of the Storm

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 26:

The Eye of the Storm

Dick ran through the woods, howling for his daughter but she wouldn't howl back. The rain soaked his fur and the mud got in between his paws but he pressed on. His pup was more important than being comfortable. He ran to an edge and turned human. Dick put his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice.

"Hailey!" he yelled across the forest.

He turned wolf and jumped down, continuing his howls. Hailey just wouldn't howl back... unless she couldn't... No! Don't think like that, Hailey's going to be fine! Hopefully...

* * *

Zatanna drove Roe and her newly enlightened friends in the direction of their house. Roe had her head out the window, listening out for Hailey, while Zatanna answered Lillianna's questions about falling for a wolf-man.

"It's simple, Lillianna, I love Dick so much that I didn't care he was a wolf. I just wanted him, no matter what species he was," Zatanna said "Although, you should have seen Roe as a pup. She changed whenever she was cranky and chewed on the furniture,"

"Mom, please don't tell the silica packet story again," Roe whined "I puked, I survived, moving on,"

Parker, Karen Marie and Lillianna laughed at her response.

"Got anything on Wolf Radio, Roe?" Karen Marie asked.

"I can only hear Dad's howls. Hailey isn't responding," said Roe, getting back into the car.

"What can we do?" Lillianna asked.

"Track. My family and I are the only wolves in the area so we just need to find the smallest set of wolf prints," said Roe, sticking her head out the window and sniffing the air "Dang, the rain's messing with my sense of smell. I can only smell dampness, not a wiff of Hailey. Hopefully, Dad's sense of smell is strong enough to find her,"

* * *

Unfortunately, Dick's sense of smell _wasn't_ strong enough to smell the faintest trace of Hailey in the middle of a storm. He didn't blame Zatanna for saying she wasn't a wolf, his wife was just worried for their child and scared of what would happen. They'd gotten through a lot together (including giving a 6-year-old Roe a flee bath - didn't go well) and now Hailey was missing.

Dick was 35-years-old apose to the 19-year-old he was when he and Zatanna first met. He wasn't the young wolf that he used to be and he could really feel the strain of the last 16 years when in wolf form. 16... it had really been 16 years, huh? Such a long time but it seemed to have gone by in a flash.

Dick, exhausted, fell onto his side and panted as the rain fell down. He'd pushed himself too far. His heart pounded in his chest and his ribs felt like they were going to crack if he kept breathing so hard.

* * *

Zatanna squeezed the steering wheel so hard her knuckles went white. She was so scared for her youngest daughter. But, how to find her? Zatanna wasn't a wolf like the rest of her family. She couldn't even climb the mountain anymore because she'd get too tired.

Zatanna wasn't 19-years-old anymore, she was 35-years-old and had known Dick for 16 years. She couldn't keep up with her kids like she used to and even Dick was having trouble with two Wolf Children running around. They could both use a break from the kids. Zatanna and Dick did always say they'd go on a second honeymoon as soon as they could afford it...

The road was slippery from the rain and the car tires kept spraying water into the windscreen. The car began worriedly skidding and Zatanna had to turn the wheel like a maniac to compensate for it. The kids began to fear for their lives as thunder rumbled around them. There was suddenly a flash of lightning in front of them and Zatanna inadvertently turned the wheel. The car flipped over and rolled.

Roe woke-up outside of the car. Lillianna, Karen Marie and Parker were by her and waking up too.

"Where's my mom?" Roe asked, getting to her hands and knees then looked at the car crash "Mom!"

Zatanna was crashed through the windscreen and seemingly unconscious. Roe scrambled to her mother's side and pulled her away from the car. There was a gash on Zatanna's temple that was bleeding and she seemed to be having trouble breathing.

"Mrs. Grayson?" Karen Marie asked, hoping to get a response out of her.

Zatanna just groaned and her head lolled to the side. Roe turned away from them as the rain poured down on them. She needed to get help for her mother, needed to track down her sister and needed to find her father. What to do?

"Roe? You okay?" Parker asked "We need a plan,"

Roe stood up and wiped her tears out of her eyes. Then she remembered something. She walked over to the car and ripped the back door off (wolf strength is awesome). Roe reached in and took out an off-road skateboard her Uncle Tim had sent her since she lived in a rural area.

"I'm going to head to the hospital and get help. Karen Marie and Parker, head into the forest and follow the biggest set of wolf tracks you can find, they'll lead you to my dad. Lillianna, stay with my mom," said Roe, putting her skate gear on.

Karen Marie and Parker pulled their coats on before running off to the nearby woods. Roe skated back down the road and Lillianna remained by Zatanna, holding her coat over them to try to protect her friend's mother.

The rain was pouring down on them all and the thunder played on their frayed nerves.

* * *

** This chapter's title, "The Eye of the Storm", is a term used to refer to the center of a storm, indicating this is the middle of the Storm storyline. I know, I'm a genius!**


	28. Chapter 27: The Worst of the Storm

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 27:

The Worst of the Storm

Roe pushed her foot against the ground as she boarded through the puddles. The off-road tires of her skateboard sprayed the rain water at her and soaked her through. She was so cold and her toes were numb. Roe's head was spinning and her skateboard hit a rock. She fell to the ground and landed in the mud. She tried to sit up but she was so cold and she couldn't feel her toes... or the rest of her body.

"Help... me..." Roe groaned, turning onto her back.

She began panting and let out a pained howl in despair. A wolf. A human. Which was she?

"I'm... a wolf-girl," Roe admitted, sitting up against her shivering arms "I've got to help, Mom,"

With the stubbornness of a wolf, she got to her feet, hobbled over to her off-road skateboard and went on her way. The ghosts of her ancestors ran beside her and gave her the strength not to give up.

* * *

Karen Marie and Parker had found the tracks of an adult wolf and began following them. They climbed down a ledge and picked up the trail back on the ground. They weren't expert trackers but they were doing pretty good. The last thing they wanted, though, was for the rain to wash away the wolf prints. Several times did they lose the trail but found it again after some searching. After Karen Marie fell from the top of a ledge, she found herself next to an exhausted black wolf who wasn't moving.

"Hey, Parker, I found him!" she called and Parker came down after her.

"Mr. Grayson? That you? We know your family secret now," said Parker "We were on our way to your house when their was a car crash. Mrs. Grayson's hurt, Mr. G., she needs help,"

"Za-ta-nna," the wolf growled, trying to stand up "Hai-ley, Rob-yn,"

"Lillianna's with your wife, Hailey's still missing and Roe's skateboarding to the hospital for help," said Karen Marie.

Dick got to his exhausted paws and stumbled forward to a ledge. He lifted his head up and howled as lightning struck and thunder accompanied it. He seemed reinvigorated and bounded back over to them. He got to his hind legs and turned human which amazed Karen Marie and Parker since they'd never seen a wolf turn human before. He was somehow fully clothed but that logic was for another time.

"Thank you," he said "You can never _ever_ tell anyone about my kind, not your parents, not your siblings, not your friends, no one. We've gone through a lot to keep our secret a secret, even having social services knock on our door once,"

"Are there... other wolves like you?" Karen Marie asked.

"Not likely. I wouldn't be surprised to learn I was the last with two wolf parents and my daughters are half/half," said Dick "There are other species like us but we're all going exstint thanks to the human race... Now, c'mon, we need to find Hailey and go to Zatanna. I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to them both,"

He hunched over and became half-wolf. He got on all fours and nodded for them to get on his back. He seemed to turn just a bit more wolf to be two/thirds-wolf and he was off. Parker held onto the hood of Dick's coat and Karen Marie held onto Parker. She cowered as Dick dashed through the trees and shrieked when he jumped across a river.

* * *

Zatanna lay on the grass as the rain came down. Lillianna was curled up a few yards away. No one had noticed this but Zatanna wasn't the only one injured. Unknown to them, Roe actually had bruised ribs (and a twisted ankle from falling off her skateboard), Karen Marie had a fractured wrist, Parker had a sprained ankle and Lillianna had a concussion. Zatanna stirred and moved her head.

"Dick... Roe... Hailey..." she murmured "Hailey... where are you? I'm... so sorry... for saying... you're not a wolf..."

So, _that's_ why Hailey was missing! She got in an argument with her mother about what species she was.

* * *

Roe came skateboarding towards the hospital and flipped over the barrier, ignoring the security guard. Cars in the parking lot screeched to a halt as she skateboarded through the parking lot. She reached the doors and grabbed her board before rushing in. The people looked at her but she collapsed to the floor before she could speak. Some security guards came to remove her, seeing her as some rebellious teenager, but a passing doctor stopped them.

"What's your name, girl?" she asked.

"My... name... is Roe... Roe Grayson..." Roe gasped "There was a car crash... my mom... she's hurt..."

Roe suddenly screamed as her bruised ribs cracked and broke.

"My name's Dr. Leslie Thompson. Where's your mother?" Dr. Thompson asked "Who is she?"

"Her... name... is... Zatanna... Zatanna Grayson... She's... on... the... mountain... road..." Roe choked out.

An ambulance was sent out that way and Dr. Thompson took care of Roe. It was unbelievable. The name 'Zatanna Grayson' couldn't be very common, there couldn't be more than one. Dr. Thompson once had a patient named that but she hadn't heard from her since telling her she was pregnant over 13 years ago... this girl was about 13, the right age and she did resemble her. Was this that baby?

* * *

Dick was dashing through the forest with Karen Marie and Parker on his back. There was a rushing and he looked through the terrain to see a mudslide coming down the mountain. Then there was a strangled howl coming from it. Hailey!

Dick ran towards the howl at full speed to the side of the mudslide. A grey-furred, black-haired wolf was doing the doggie paddle and trying to keep her head above the mud. She howled and saw her father on the bank.

"Daddy! Help..." she gurlged as she nearly went under.

"Hailey!" Dick shouted "Get off, you two, I need to save my daughter,"

Karen Marie and Parker jumped off and Dick turned full-wolf. He took a running start and jumped into the mudslide. He splashed in and swam down for his child. It reminded him of when Hailey fell in the river 9 years ago. Dick turned human amongst the sludge and took hold of his daughter's narrow shoulders.

He came up for air and wiped the mud from Hailey's face. She was unconscious but alive and breathing. Dick took hold of a boulder that was stationary in the mudslide and climbed on with his youngest child in his arms. He looked at her mud-covered pale face and shook her by her shoulders.

"Hailey! Hailey! Hailey Sindella Grayson! Wake-up! Open those beautiful blue eyes you got from your mother!" Dick begged and held her close.

Hailey's scrawny arms reached up and hugged him back.

"I'm sorry, Dad, I don't mean what I said about humans or about Mom... I was just so upset," she apologized "I don't know what I am... human... or wolf?"

Dick got up with his daughter sitting on his arm.

"Your mom's been in a car accident. We need to get to her and fast," he said.

Hailey crawled onto his back and Dick leaped to the bank. Karen Marie and Parker came running over to them. Hailey's head spun and she passed out, falling off her father's back. Dick lifted her up and they all headed out of the forest.


	29. Chapter 28: The Calm after the Storm

** A loyal reviewer of mine has brought to my attention who Roe should end up with. Since adding Parker Hyde to this story, I've been thinking about who Zatanna and Dick's son-in-law should be in my usual YJ stories. Initially, I intended it to be Kurt Kent but, after writing about Parker, I'm not sure. So, what do you think? Who should end up with Roe Grayson?**

**Parker Hyde: The calm, cool and collected son of Kaldur'ahm/Jackson Hyde and Raquel Ervin-Hyde, big brother of Christopher "Chris" Hyde. Member of the New Young Justice under the codename: Aquaboy.**

**Kurt Kent/K'rtt M'orzz-El/Kur-El: The aloof, self-controlled, loner son of Kon-El/Conner Kent and M'gann M'orzz-El/Megan Kent, big brother of Karen Marie Kent/K'renn M'ree M'orzz-El/Kar-El. Member of the New Young Justice under the codename: Superboy.**

**In this story, Parker and Roe are the same age but, in _my_ Young Justice universe, Parker is 2 years older - the same age as Kurt. In this, Kurt is currently 15 but I don't want to address the dating subject in this story.**

**Go to the poll on my profile and vote! Your votes will help me decide. I'm actually leaning towards Parker now because his powers are magical and so are Roe's.**

* * *

Three Wolves and One Human

Chapter 28:

The Calm after the Storm

Roe woke-up with a gasp and looked around the room she was in. It was unpleasantly bright. She felt bandages around her and her lower right leg was bandaged and elevated. Roe'd never been in a hospital before so she didn't know where she was. Was she dead? Roe saw an IV in her wrist and a dim green cardigan around her shoulders. There was a mirror on the bedside table and she picked it up to look at herself.

Roe's raven-black hair was down with her uneven fringe covering her left eye. Her vision was blurry due to not having her glasses but she seemed... happier - somehow. Maybe because she finally connected to her wolf heritage? Roe didn't know but she felt at peace with herself.

She put the mirror down and noticed her glasses case. She snapped it open and put them on to get a better view. Roe put the glasses case back and sat up with great effort.

"Hello?!" she called "Anyone there? Hello?!"

She lay back down with a huff and someone came in. It was Dr. Thompson with a clipboard. She seemed relieved to see Roe awake and walked over to her.

"I was beginning to suspect you weren't going to wake-up," she said.

"How long have I been asleep?" Roe asked.

"3 days. It's a miracle you got here in such a short amount of time, considering how far your mother's accident was," said Dr. Thompson.

"Mom! Is she okay? What about my dad and sister? What about them?!" Roe exclaimed, sitting up.

"Calm down. Your father's okay. Your sister has minor pneumoeia from being out in that storm and your mother is in the women's ward," explained Dr. Thompson "You're all going to be just fine,"

"Thank... goodness..." Roe sighed, laying back down.

* * *

Zatanna's head hurt more than anything in her entire life. She sat up and looked at her legs which were suspended above the bed. She felt useless at that moment and lay back down. The scream of her child rang as the car crashed in her head and caused her to stir.

"Zatanna, sweetheart?" Dick said, entering her hospital room.

"Dickie-pup!" Zatanna said, reaching up and hugging him "Oh, love, I'm so worried for Roe! If she's just asleep, why won't she wake-up?"

Dick pushed away from her and smiled.

"She's awake. Our baby girl is awake and healthy," he said, tears in the corners of his eyes.

Zatanna smiled, showing her pearly teeth, and covered her mouth with tears in her eyes.

* * *

Hailey coughed and sniffled as her head spun. She was wrapped up in as many blankets as possible and a hot water bottle held to her chest. Tucked in by her head was Woofie, her little wolf toy. The door opened and her mother rolled in, sitting in a wheelchair, with her father pushing her.

"Mom? Dad?" Hailey groaned, steadily sitting up.

There was the rattle of crutches and Roe came in, her ankle wrapped up with bandages and a support strapped to it. The Grayson sisters smiled at each other.

"Hey, little sis, how's it been?" she asked.

Hailey sat in bed, Roe sat by her feet, Zatanna sat in her wheelchair beside them and Dick stood by them all. They happily ate hospital ice-cream and laughed about their pasts. Hailey laughed at the story of when Roe barked at a dog before they moved from New York and Roe's cheeks turned red. They enjoyed being together and the wolf-girls acted different as they didn't suppress their other sides of being human _and_ wolf.

Zatanna and Dick smiled at their Wolf Children then turned to smile at each other. It had been a bumpy ride but Zatanna had survived being the ONE human among THREE wolves.

* * *

** Next up is the epilogue**


	30. Epilogue: Who I Am

Three Wolves and One Human

Epilogue:

Who I Am

**Roe's P.O.V:**

The following year, I moved to the dorms in the closest high school. I took part in skate competitions and I never tied my hair back again. With my wolf side embraced, I never lost control again. Hailey became more social and made proper friends with Poppy Batson, Isaac Reyes, Daisy West (one of Jai and Irey's many younger siblings) and Remy Logan. During the Summer Vacations, I'd usually return home. When I was 18 and about to move to New York to attend the University of New York like my mother, my friends and I decided to travel across Europe. While at the top of the Eiffel Tower one evening, Parker confessed his love for me and I turned half-wolf to kiss him in response. We began a long-distance relationship since he went to Miami for college but we made it work. After a while, the stress of the long-distance began to take its toll and we met to have a_long_ talk about our relationship. It took 6 hours of sitting in a café but we came to the conclusion to break-up. As I was leaving, Parker called me back and proposed. We were 21 but, hey, my parents were married by my age. At age 23, we had a child who was born as a half-wolf. His name is Richie Hyde, named after my father, and he's currently 3-years-old.

Hailey began taking some courses when she was 15 and proved to be more intellagent than if she stayed in school. She began working at the Logan Animal Reserve when she was 17 with our mother and, by age 19, was in a relationship with Remy Logan, who was a year younger. She's 23, he's 22 and we _all_ hear wedding bells in their future.

Mom and Dad still live in that big old house out in the country. Just the two of them, their garden, the chickens, the rooster and the chicks. Richie loves visiting them and a secluded place is helpful since he changes into an adorable wolf pup at random. Mom got to see her father again and he too learned the family secret.

Mom often reminiscs about the time she spent raising my sister and I. She'd smile and look at pictures of us as wolves at different ages. Her life hadn't been how she planned or expected but she wouldn't change a thing. Mom and Dad are both 48-years-old now but they act as lively as ever!

My name is Robyn Mary Grayson-Hyde, Roe for short, I'm currently 26-years-old. My father is Dick Grayson, my mother is Zatanna Grayson, my sister is Hailey Grayson, my husband is Parker Hyde and my son is Richie Hyde. Most people think I'm your average human but, really, I'm a Wolf Child.

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**The end!**

**Please review!**

**I decided Parker, even though the one vote on my poll wanted Kurt, because everyone reviewing wanted Parker and I thought their magical powers made them a better match than Kurt and Roe.  
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